THE pressure is on at Hilton Park as the Centurions gear up for the big NFP kick off.

If Tuesday night's highly-impressive victory over South Sydney proved anything it's that head coach Paul Terzis has quietly assembled one of the strongest squads seen at Leigh for many a year.

Newcomers Neil Turley, Simon Svabic, John Duffy, Martin Roden and Dave Bradbury have got the inside running after standing out in the Souths victory but with the likes of Chris Morley, Willie Swann, Kieron Purtill, Dave Jones, Liam Bretherton and Dave Whittle still to come back, the competition for places has never been keener.

That's a point not lost on Samoan international Swann who is recovering from surgery to repair a broken hand.

Swann watched Tuesday's game and later admitted: "This is going to be one strong squad. Everyone is going to have to perform consistently well to keep their places in the side. That's a nice situation to be in."

It's a view shared by Terzis who said: " I was particularly impressed by the new players in the side They've had to come in and learn new systems and generally have cope well. "We got minimal injuries out of the game the thing is we half a dozen more players to get back into that squad. The pressure is on for players to maintain their spots and it showed in their performances that they are responding to the challenge.

"It was fantastic to see so many supporters turn up on a bad night. They'll have gone home satisfied and happy in the knowledge that this is the start of something big."

Souths coach Darryl Neville acknowledged that his team were outclassed on the night.

"The conditions were totally alien to us, not just the wet but the cold. I'm proud of the way by lads still kept trying to play footie right to the end.

"We've played both Oldham and Leigh now and I'd have to say that Leigh look the better side."

The Centurions will complete their pre-season programme next Tuesday, November 28 when Oldham visit Hilton Park, kick off 3pm. All to pay.