Paul March has hailed Tony Smith as the best coach in the country ahead of his side’s latest showdown with holders Warrington in the Tetley’s Challenge Cup on Sunday (3pm).

The Cougars chief will cross swords with his former mentor in the fourth-round tie after playing under the former Leeds and England boss at Huddersfield.

Remarkably, this is the third season running that Keighley have faced Warrington in the famous cup competition, and March admits his men have their work cut out.

Cougars were left frustrated after last weekend’s match at Workington was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch at the 11th hour.

March’s squad had passed Skipton and were heading north to Cumbria when the match was called off.

Nevertheless, Keighley go into the eagerly-awaited showdown with the Wolves on the back of four straight victories.

Smith has guided Warrington to cup glory in three of the past four seasons, and March said: “Obviously I look up to Tony and I regard him as probably the best coach we’ve got in this country.

“His record is fantastic. I don’t have as much contact with him as I used to but when we see each other we have a chat.

“We’re not under any illusions that it’s going to be a very difficult game on Sunday.

“As players and a coach we want to test ourselves against the best, and Warrington have proved themselves as that in recent seasons.

“They don’t come any bigger than cup ties against the holders and we don’t want to disgrace ourselves.

“It’s strange to be playing them again. We were beaten 80-0 there in 2011 and then ran them a lot closer last year here at Cougar Park, losing 44-18.

“I’m looking for another improvement again this weekend. As I said, I’m no stranger to playing Warrington in recent seasons.

“In 2009, I was player-coach for York City Knights and we played the Wolves at Halliwell Jones Stadium in the fourth round of the cup.”

March will check the fitness of scrum half Scott Leatherbarrow, who is nursing a knee injury, and could pitch himself into action after a rib injury should the former Wigan man fail to recover.

Key prop Andy Shickell is fit to play after a recent hamstring injury but no dual-registered Castleford players will be available.

March, who revealed young half-back Ben Stead is also vying for contention after impressing for the under-20s, said: “We want to keep our confidence high, and that means putting in the right kind of performance to take into our league games.

“We want to be competitive throughout the whole game and keep the scoreline to a minimum.

“Warrington have lost a couple of times in recent weeks, so let’s see what we can do.”

Warrington boast arguably the strongest squad in Super League, and March added: “Lee Briers is coming back into contention and he’s their danger man.

“Garreth Carvell and Chris Hill lay the platform in the front row and Ben Westwood, who I played with at Wakefield and who I think will end his career back there, is one of the best second-rowers in the world.”

Briers believes the Wolves’ experience at Cougar Park will stand them in good stead.

“It was tough last year and it will be tough again,” he said. “They gave it their all, which is what you expect.

“Last year we tried to tell the players what to expect about the changing rooms being tiny and the pitch and slope.

“We went in a bit blind but this year we’re prepared, although we still need to prepare well.

“It’s a classical old rugby league ground, the crowd is on top of you. It’s one of the brilliant things about rugby league.

“Sometimes in Super League you get spoiled with brand new stadiums and massive changing rooms with five toilets and 12 showers.

“Sometimes you need a reality check. I’m not saying it’s a poor standard, just that they live by their means and we need to respect that.”