MATT Farr admits it will be strange for his team to take on opponents trained by his brother when Winnington Park meet Crewe & Nantwich.

It hasn’t happened previously, and on Saturday a piece of silverware is the prize for who comes out on top.

“We’ve talked about it, of course, but not too much,” said Park’s head coach who, like his sibling, has also played for both clubs.

“John has mentioned one or two things to me that they’ll try to do, but I don’t know whether to believe him or not.

“I think the best thing is to ignore him, you can do that as the eldest!

"We'll do our own thing, and attempt to play the way that we want to."

Winnington are seeking to retain a title they claimed last year when they demolished New Brighton in the final at Birkenhead Park.

A fourth final victory in the Cheshire RFU Bowl would be an apt way to end an encouraging campaign that will see them finish sixth in Lancs/Cheshire Division One.

“We’ve learned a lot,” said Farr.

“There is plenty we can improve on, particularly a knack of switching off after we’ve manoeuvred ourselves into a good position during a game.

“Too often we’ve had a purple patch and then gone to sleep. It’s cost us too.

“It goes without saying that we can’t afford to do that in a final.”

Winnington have fared better against the league’s best team this season.

They twice ran close champions Altrincham Kersal and are the only side to do a double over Rochdale.

A win against Glossop at Burrows Hill earlier this month was timely too as it halted a sequence of four defeats.

Farr said: “That was an important one.

“I think sometimes during a run-in, particularly if you’ve nothing to play for, it can be more of a challenge to raise the players.

“I was the same when I played, and you have to dig a little deeper to find that bit of motivation and pride to keep going.

“We go into the weekend with a couple of positive results behind us and that’s what we needed.”

He hopes to have influential prop Shaun Underdown (shin) available again after he sat out last weekend’s victory against Liverpool Collegiate.

However back Jimmy Moran (thumb) is a major injury doubt.

Centre James Johnson is a long-term absentee.

Farr said: “We’ll be pretty close to full strength, and Shaun came through training earlier this week.”