Ipswich Witches will face a challenge that “looks like Everest” in the second leg of their Premiership Knockout Cup final against Sheffield Tigers, according to promoter Chris Louis.

The injury-hit Witches are 20 points behind after losing 55-35 in South Yorkshire on Monday.

The Tigers overturned an 18-point deficit by beating Ipswich to win their first Premiership title last year.

“The fact that we went there with what should have been a defendable lead and lost, it would be great to do the same to them this year,” Louis told BBC Radio Suffolk.

“It’s a tough battle, but we’re going to give it our all and see what happens.”

The Witches – who beat Sheffield 97-83 on aggregate in last year’s cup final – will have home advantage for the second leg.

But they will be without former world champion Jason Doyle, who was ruled out for the rest of the season in June due to shoulder surgery following an accident, and Emil Sayfutdinov.

He is still recovering after being knocked down by a bike during a Premiership match against the Tigers earlier this month.

“We lost Jason quite early in the season, before mid-season, and everyone said we couldn’t replace him, he’s pretty much irreplaceable,” Louis added.

“But we stayed at the top of the table and in a convincing manner, so that when we also lost Emil we were able to stay in the play-offs and that is testament to the hard work of the whole team.

“Losing Emil was a huge blow – we built the team around the two best riders in the league at the top and we can’t afford to lose them both.

“The team deserved a trophy this year and it will be very difficult to get one, but we did not give up.”

Louis said their task had been made more difficult by the recent impressive form of Sheffield’s Josh Pickering.

“He’s been unbelievable for them in the engine room, as a number four. For me, he’s made a huge difference to the strength of their team,” he added.

“Without his form, I think we could have faced them despite our serious injuries.”