NEIL Jukes has performed a highly impressive job at Leigh since succeeding the departed Paul Rowley earlier this year.

Rowley quit before the season started and Jukes suffered an inauspicious start when he lost to Batley on the opening day.

But, a memorable draw against the Bulls at Odsal aside, the Centurions have won every game and lie at the Championship's summit with top spot virtually assured.

Jukes’ men battered London in Ealing last weekend and the head coach said: "Going five points clear at the top gives me and the team a lot of confidence for the challenges ahead.

"As a team we are learning every week and our experiences this year have helped that.

"Even though we were well in front at London at half-time, I was thinking back to when we had that big lead at Bradford and let it slip to end up drawing.

"But we are going in the right direction as we showed by keeping a good team like London down to 12 points on their own ground.

"There are bigger games ahead and we want to get better in defence and there are signs of that already.

"It is difficult to get the players to buy into it sometimes but they are seeing a lot of success from it."

Leigh guaranteed their top-four spot with four games to spare by winning in the capital and they look destined to finish top of the Championship for a third successive campaign.

Their first-half display at London was their most complete of the season, building a 28-0 lead through a combination of determined defence and clinical attack.

London had not lost at their Trailfinders Stadium home in the league all year and, although they rallied in the second half, Leigh stood firm to go five points clear at the top.

Jukes said: "Our defence and contact was superb and I knew very early on in the game that we had the right mindset to win. We had to defend a number of repeat sets but we were spot on in our mentality.

"In the second half we knew they'd come out strongly but we knew if we kept completing we'd be able to keep that pressure on."