Naylor has lots to chew over

Date published: 20 September 2013


SCOTT Naylor’s Oldham are preparing to tackle the ‘Quality Street’ gang in Whitebank's last and biggest game of the season on Sunday afternoon.

Roughyeds have beaten London Skolars seven times in their last eight games, including a league double this season.

But Naylor believes they are a better side now — a view echoed by Skolars boss Joe Mbu, even though the Londoners will be without ace goal-kicker Dylan Skee.

Mbu said: “The players want to win at Oldham for Dylan, but even without him we’re a lot stronger than we were in our previous meetings with Oldham.”

The Roughyeds’ coach, who saw Skolars lose their first play-off game at Rochdale to a last-minute try, agrees.

He said: “They’re a quality team with quality individuals, especially on the fringes where they have been good all season.

“They scored seven unanswered tries in the first-half against Hemel last week. Our defence will have to be at its best to stop them scoring points.

“Last week was a learning curve for us when beaten by Rochdale. Since then, we’ve learned well and we’ve trained well. And I don’t see us making the same mistakes again.”