Liana Leota believes if Leeds Rhinos can take the energy generated in their one-off game at the First Direct Arena last Sunday into the rest of the season they can achieve their top-four ambition in Netball Super League.

In front of a raucous crowd of 3,700, Rhinos staged a second-half comeback to give defending champions Loughborough Lightning an almighty scare.

As they head to fourth place London Pulse on Saturday, director of netball Leota is urging them to use it as a springboard.

“The effort we put into that game and how close we came should energise the team,” said Leota, whose team sit eighth but only three points behind fifth.

Liana Leota, director of netball at Leeds Rhinos, is looking to build on second-half fightback against London Pulse (Picture: Matt McNulty/Getty Images for England Netball)

“We’ve targeted a few teams that are must-wins in order to keep the top-four dream alive. That congestion in the middle, and I hope it stays that way, makes it more viable to get through.

“We’re disappointed with where we’re sitting but there’s still hope.

“We’re coming off a massive team performance and everyone is buzzing and it makes me really confident.”

'We're coming off a massive team performance' - Leeds Rhinos Netball using Arena energy to fuel top-four bid