Paul Cullen's Widnes meet Keighley in the Northern Rail Cup semi on 20 June

Widnes coach Paul Cullen admits that reaching the last four of the Northern Rail Cup has made it difficult for his side to win the Championship.

The Vikings lie sixth, 16 points off top spot with two games in hand - and Cullen admits: "I honestly don't think we are going to top the table.

He told BBC Radio Merseyside: "A couple of them aren't troubled by the Northern Rail, Halifax and Featherstone.

"They've had some rest weekends that we don't have the luxury of."

Added to that, halfway through their 20-match league programme, the Vikings' season has been beset by injuries.

"It's almost a miracle that we're still in contention, and we're still in the Northern Rail semi-finals," said Cullen.

"We actually used our 34th player at the weekend, and yet we are still not past the halfway stage which is a ridiculous amount of players to go through and typifies how many injuries we've had all the way through the campaign so far.

"All in all, we have to keep plugging away, keeping in contention in the top six, as we've proven we can beat anyone on our day."

The Vikings play in the second of the two Northern Rail Cup semi-finals against Keighley at Cougar Park on 20 June.

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