Widnes the first test of life after Roe

Wakefield Trinity begin life without Peter Roe today with a visit from one of the most effective away teams in Super League. Although Wakefield won at Widnes in the Challenge Cup earlier this season, anything today would be a bonus for a club where turmoil has become a way of life.

There will be much sympathy for Roe, sacked as coach after being told that he would not be offered a contract for next season. An experienced operator with lower-division clubs, Roe knew he was taking a risk when he gave up a full-time job to have a crack at Super League. Overall, he probably did as well as could be expected. Three wins might sound modest, but it was three more than many predicted. The club have sold his two best players, Nathan Wood and Ben Westwood, from under him, but Wakefield have continued to produce gutsy performances, even against teams from the top end. Crucially, however, vital matches against the other relegation candidates, Warrington and Salford, have been lost, leaving them two points adrift.

Trinity now need the sort of boost that struggling sides often get from a change of coach – and which Salford and Warrington have both enjoyed to some extent. It would be a major shock if that effect started to kick in today, under the temporary guidance of Roe's former assistant, the Australian Shane McNally, who is one of the candidates for the job. The club's football manager, Peter Fox, will also be involved, both in today's preparations and appointing the new man.

Regardless of who they can find prepared to risk working for them, Wakefield have re-established themselves as relegation favourites, but that is no cause for complacency at Warrington or Salford, who play each other today.

The winner of that game is likely to be four points clear of the trap door by this evening – a feeling of relative security that will be unfamiliar to either.