Challenge Cup blow for Leeds as Rob Burrow is ruled out by knee injury

Leeds Rhinos suffered a major blow on the eve of tomorrow's fifth-round Carnegie Challenge Cup tie against Blackpool Panthers when their England scrum-half Rob Burrow was ruled out for at least two months with a knee injury. Burrow suffered cruciate ligament damage in the Rhinos' victory over Wakefield at Murrayfield last weekend and although his absence should not present too many problems against the part-time Panthers, it could prove more costly in the cup quarter-finals at the end of this month – as well as causing further disruption to the Rhinos' troubled Super League title defence. Leeds are expected to stick with the half-back combination of Danny McGuire and Kevin Sinfield which ended the Wakefield game – not exactly scraping the barrel, as Blackpool's laconic coach Martin Crompton has noted. The Samoan forwards Kylie Leuluai and Ali Lauitiiti are back in contention after missing the Murrayfield trip for personal reasons and through injury respectively. But Crompton and his Panthers players are still relishing arguably the most daunting test of their careers. "Playing Leeds at Headingley is a once-in-a-lifetime thing for some of our lads, and for a little club like Blackpool it's a big thrill," said Crompton, the former scrum-half who played for Warrington in the 1990 cup final at Wembley when they were beaten by his hometown Wigan. The Panthers were in the latter stages of a run of 45 matches without a win when he took over as coach in 2007 but they are now joint top of Championship One and pushing for promotion after winning their first six matches. "I know I'm bonkers coming to Blackpool but as a coach you have to take responsibility for taking the club forward on and off the field," he added. "The club was in bad shape when I took over, and we've come a long way in a short time. We'll have 150 supporters at Leeds, and that's 10 times what we normally take to an away match." Bradford also face lower league opposition in tomorrow's other fifth-round tie, although a Leigh team including the former Odsal favourite Robbie Paul will quietly fancy their chances of causing an upset. The Bulls were awful in losing to the Crusaders in Edinburgh, and are without Matt Orford, their influential Australian scrum-half who suffered a shoulder injury. Huddersfield have included their Australian captain Brett Hodgson in the 19-man squad for Saturday's televised tie against Warrington, a repeat of last year's final, adding weight to the suspicions of the Wolves coach, Tony Smith, that the full-back may make a surprise return two weeks after being publicly ruled out for at least a month with a thigh strain. Warrington have agreed to extend Kevin Penny's loan spell at Harlequins by a second month, although he will not be available for the London club's home tie against St Helens at The Stoop on Sunday in case the Wolves need him later in the tournament.