St Helens coach Nathan Brown has warned his players to expect a tough encounter when they face Catalans Dragons in the Super League playoff semi-finals.

The two sides meet at Langtree Park on Friday night with a place in the Grand Final at Old Trafford awaiting the winner.

Saints are considered the narrow favourites to win the match this weekend, but Brown believes that Catalans are capable of causing his team problems following their recent victories over Leeds Rhinos and Huddersfield Giants.

"I think they showed during the year they deserved to be where they are, to win the amount of games they won at the back end of the year and obviously their unbelievable home form is a real highlight for them," he told Sky Sports News.

"No one expected them to beat Leeds I don't think and I'm not sure many people expected them to beat Huddersfield. They are playing some good football and I said at the start of the playoffs I thought they were the best seventh roster I've seen since I've been here."

St Helens reached the second round of last season's playoffs before losing to Leeds Rhinos.