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Ambitious Toronto Wolfpack have an early Super League scalp in sight after the Transatlantic club drew Salford in the Challenge Cup.

Paul Rowley’s full-time team accounted for Championship London Broncos in the last round, and are expected to breeze through the third tier League One in their debut campaign.

Facing the Red Devils - who are currently fifth in Super League - presents by far their biggest challenge to date.

But the fact that Salford coach Ian Watson labelled the draw tougher than getting Leeds or Huddersfield illustrates the esteem Toronto are already being held in.

Rowley - who lives half a mile away from Watson in Salford - told Mirror Sport: “We take it as a real mark of respect from Watto.

(Image: Focus Images)

“He isn’t daft and he knows that we are huge underdogs in it, but we will ask some questions of them.

“We appreciate him saying that and we won’t shy away from the challenge.”

The two clubs played an “opposed” training ground match against each other in pre-season that Toronto won.

But Rowley is reading little into that or the fact that him and six Toronto players knocked Salford out of the cup while at Leigh in 2015.

(Image: Focus Images) (Image: Focus Images Limited)

He said: “Those training games are good for teams in pre-season because you don’t have that physicality where you can pick up injuries.

“But physically they are very good - when you have Justin Carney and Greg Johnson bringing the ball back, that’s what we’ve got to contend with.

“That will be the challenging bit for us.”

(Image: Focus Images Limited) (Image: Focus Images Limited)

Toronto don’t play their first match in Canada until May, but Rowley says the signs from their first four fixtures have been promising for a club with its sights set firmly on Super League.

He added: “Our first league game against London Skolars generated 2.7million hits on social media which was phenomenal.

“There were 90,000 viewers on a BBC stream for the Siddal cup tie, so we can only imagine the attention this game will attract.

“People are interested and supportive - I would say that 99.99 percent of people so far have been excited about where this venture can go.

(Image: PA)

“A lot of them are hopeful of Toronto taking the game onto a different level and to a new audience, and that can only be good for the game.”

Elsewhere in the draw, promoted Leigh face relegated Hull KR, with the remaining eight Super League clubs entering the competition in the next round.

Ladbrokes Challenge Cup fifth-round draw: Leigh v Hull KR, Featherstone v Oldham, Leeds v Doncaster, Salford v Toronto, Whitehaven or Oxford v Halifax, Dewsbury v Batley, Huddersfield v Swinton, York v Barrow.

How will Toronto work?

Toronto’s squad has been based in Brighouse, West Yorkshire until now, but will fly to Canada for three or four weeks at a time to play home matches, before spending four weeks in England and playing away.

Travel and accommodation for all away teams is paid for by the Wolfpack, with fans offered special rates. Teams will fly out on Thursday, play Saturday and return home Sunday.

Toronto are backed by Australian mining millionaire David Argyle, but have also secured a host of significant sponsors including main partner Airline Air Transat.

The club has sold almost 3,000 season tickets and hopes to attract five-figure crowds to their home Lamport Stadium.

Paul Rowley’s squad is full-time, including Super League stars Craig Hall and Gary Wheeler as well as former New Zealand and Tonga prop Fuifui Moimoi.

All of the Wolfpack’s league matches, home and away, will be screened live by Premier Sports.