"KEEP calm and carry on" will be Paul Rowley’s message to his shell-shocked troops in the aftermath of Leigh’s opening excursion into the Middle 8s Super League qualifiers battleground.

But with Salford owner Marwan Koukash promising "Twitter meltdown" with Centurions rival Derek Beaumont, it will be more "war" and less "peace" ahead of Sunday’s clash at the AJ Bell Stadium.

While not exactly "must win" for Centurions, the importance of it was ramped up after Leigh finally surrendered their proud unbeaten home record stretching back 31 games and nearly two years.

Most coaches in Super and Middle 8s are targeting 10 points from seven games to finish in the top of four of their respective divisions. With now only 12 to play for Leigh know they can ill afford many more slips.

With Salford opening their survival bid with a 36-26 win against Wakefield and desperate to avenge their Challenge Cup exit at Leigh Sports Village earlier this season, the Centurions are not exactly the favourites to win this game that they were last month, when the Red Devils suffered a 70-0 humiliation at Leeds Rhinos.

“It was a lesson that if you don’t turn that screw at the right time, or your game sense isn’t quite good enough, then points can be scored pretty easily in any division,” said Rowley of Leigh’s stunning loss to Wembley bound Rovers.

“We were the reason for our own downfall.

“We dismantled a Challenge Cup final team for 40 minutes and I thought one more try would have taken the game away from Hull KR.

“We did cause them all kinds of problems but you need the ball to do that and you need the energy as well. That’s one cup final gone and there are six to go."

However, with Leigh overturning a ninth minute, 6-0 deficit to lead 24-6 at half-time, Rovers appeared set to suffer the same fate as Super League rivals Salford and Wakefield in the cup earlier this season.

Ryan Brierley, Gregg McNally, Andrew Dixon and Tom Armstrong touched down and Martyn Ridyard kicked four conversions as the Championship table-toppers mastered their visitors in front of 4,454 spectators.

Even when speed machine Kieran Dixon raced away for a converted try early in the second half, there still appeared no way back for Rovers especially when Ridyard turned the screw with a 53rd minute penalty.

Instead, on the back of a rising penalty count against them, Leigh lost the initiative. Rovers notched 24 unanswered points with Ben Cockayne – a try scorer when these teams met in the 2006 Northern Rail Cup final at Blackpool – applying a 77th-minute coup de grace.

Leigh, fifth in the Middle 8s table after one round of fixtures, have backed local MP Andy Burnham in his bid to succeed Ed Milliband as Labour Leader. Neither wants to be left out in the cold over the coming months!

Leigh: McNally; Higson, Worthington, Armstrong, Kay; Ridyard, Brierley; Moimoi, Beswick, Emmitt, Dixon, Goulden, Hock. Substitutes: Higham, Wilkes, Barlow, Hopkins.

Hull KR: Dixon; Cockayne, Sio, Welham, Mantellato; Chisholm, Blair; Walker, Lunt, Puletua, Larroyer. Horne, McCarthy; Tilse, Greenwood, Donaldson, Ollett.

Referee: Ben Thaler.

Attendance: 4,454.