LEIGH Centurions are sweating on the fitness of star half-back Tommy Martyn ahead of Sunday's Arriva Trains Cup semi-final showdown at Whitehaven.

Leigh's talisman hobbled off after just 20 minutes in last weekend's win at Hull KR with a knee injury and has been undergoing round-the-clock treatment ever since.

Leigh will give Martyn as much time as possible to recover - even if it means leaving a decision until the day of the game.

"It's touch and go," admitted coach Darren Abram. "Naturally we want him out there, but he won't be made to play unless he feels confident in himself. Tommy himself will be the best judge of his fitness and the final decision will be left with him."

Other than Martyn, Abram's only injury concern ahead of the trip to the Recreation Ground, is in-form prop Simon Knox. He also collected a knee injury at Hull and will only be considered if he's 100 per cent.

Having lost narrowly to 'Haven up in Cumbria in the opening league game of the season, Leigh start Sunday's semi as slight underdogs.

But Leigh will try to level the odds a little by travelling north the day before the game. "It can be a draining trip up there and we felt that an overnight stay would help our preparation. We should be relaxed and refreshed come kick off time," Abram added.

Although the suffered a shock league defeat against Oldham at the weekend, Abram is expecting the 'real' Whitehaven to emerge this Sunday.

"I think coach Steve McCormack took a bit of a risk and rested one or two key players for the Oldham game and it backfired a bit. Make no mistake about it, they'll be fired up for this one. Whitehaven don't get many chances to reach cup finals and they'll be pulling trees up to try and reach this one," said Abram.

"But my lads are equally determined to make the final themselves and go on and win it. Many of them lost in the final last year to Salford and they don't want to repeat that experience.

"The thought of playing in a major final should be motivation enough. If you don't want to play and perform to your peak in games like this, then it's a waste of time getting on the bus.

"Nothing Whitehaven will do will surprise us. We know what type of game they'll play. They'll be very passionate and enthusiastic and will have a partisan crowd behind them. We've got to match them in all those areas."