Bay of Plenty Steamers coach Clayton McMillan isn't taking any chances against cellar dwellers Northland when the two sides clash in Whangarei tomorrow.

The Bay of Plenty Steamers have announced their team to face Northland tomorrow night at Toll Stadium in Whangarei. Clayton has named a strong side minus one noticeable omission captain Culum Retallick who is serving a two week suspension for a trip tackle in last week's lost to Hawke's Bay. Zak Hohneck will lead the side out.

The coach says the team are looking to bounce back quickly from the disappointment of last week's shield challenge loss.

'Some valuable lessons were learned and it is imperative we take those learnings and improve. The reality is we need to win to stay in playoff contention.

'Focusing on the process rather than the outcome will be important. Northland are a proud Union and are always formidable at Toll Stadium. So we are expecting a huge challenge. They are better than their results indicate.”

ITM Cup history has shown when it comes to taking on Northland nothing is guaranteed.

On this year's stats along it would have to be a brave punter to put big money on the Cambridge blues beating the Steamers.

Northland are yet to register a win and has one of the worst defensive records of the competition scoring a miserly 69 points to a whopping 229 points against.

But Bay of Plenty have to go way back to 2012 to find the last time they beat Northland. A 31-19 win in Mt Maunganui.

Northland have an uncanny knack of pulling out the big one against the Bay. The last two times the sides met have all been narrow affairs with Northland snatching the wins 30-27 and 20-19.

The coach appears to be building a team who are beginning to believe in themselves.

They were clearly the better team in their last hit out against Hawke's Bay but unfortunately weren't able to close it out.

Clayton has told SunLive most of his side have less than 10 games under their belt. When he would prefer to have the majority of his players to have played 20 or 30 games.

There has been a faint whiff of inconsistency in his side this year with three wins and three losses. Also they have often looked strong only to let sides put on quick points against them and watch the game slowly drift away.

The encouraging sign against Hawke's Bay was the team didn't lose faith and battled right to the end. With more experience the side will be able to shout out a side when they are there for the taking.

Bay of Plenty have players with X-factor Timo Nemani, Chase Tiatia and Te Rangi Fraser to name a few. They also have guys who are no nonsense in your face types of players like Culum Retallick and Joe Tupe. Then you have players like Nick Evemy who showed on Saturday he can direct his team around.

Northland have nothing to lose and everything to gain in the round seven match and this makes them dangerous.

However on the flipside it's equally an opportunity for the Steamers to go out there and rack up a win and some confidence for the race home to the semi-finals.

Bay of Plenty take on Northland in Whangarei at 7.35pm.

Bay of Plenty Squad: Solomona Sakalia, Nathan Harris, Pingi Tala'apitaga, Keepa Mewett, Johan Bardoul, Shahn Eru, Zak Hohneck (c), Joe Tupe, Te Aihe Toma, Nick Evemy, Elijah Nicholas, Lalakai Foketi, Tino Nemani, Craig Clare, Chase Tiatia

Reserves: Joseph Royal, Siegfried Fisi'ihoi, Mike Kainga, Troy Callander, Sabastian Siataga, Jono Kitto, Caleb Hall, Dan Hollinshead