THE only blemish on Sam Burgess’ top-flight record as a head coach so far came courtesy of Catalans Dragons.

However, he insists it is progress rather than payback that will be the main focus for Warrington Wolves tomorrow.

The Wire have won all five matches since losing to the Dragons in Perpignan in Round One last month and as the French side arrive at The Halliwell Jones Stadium for this “Rivals Round” clash, it is a big chance for Burgess’ men to see how far they have come since then.

It is the first of a testing run of fixtures for Warrington, with a trip to Leeds Rhinos to follow next week before St Helens await in the Challenge Cup quarter-finals in a fortnight.

“I think this week will be a good challenge,” Burgess said.

“We’ll go after this week with our best intentions, see how we pull up and then go again.

“We’ve got a good run of games coming up now where we can have a good look at ourselves and see how we are over a consistent period of time.

“It’s another game and we have to take the emotion out of it – we’ll approach it with the same intensity that we’re trying to bring here every week.

“It’s not a case of getting them back, it’s a case of getting our job done and trying to get a result.”

With both sides further into their campaigns since they last met, both will hope to be more cohesive than when they met in Round One.

However, Burgess is still expecting the raw physicality that has become the Dragons’ trademark and in order to limit that, the Wire boss says his side must be “at their best” without the ball.

“Catalans have that identity and physical presence, even in the backs as well,” he said.

“We’re expecting a similar sort of game – we’re both five or six weeks further into our campaign so there will be a few tweaks in how they play, but no doubt the physicality will still be the same.

“They’re a hard team to break down – it’s no coincidence that they’ve been at the top for a few years now.

“We’re going to have to work hard and do a lot of things well to score points and on the flip side of that, we’ll have to be at our best to restrict them.”