Long injury list is a worry

OLDHAM are continuing to follow up leads on loan players as they battle to overcome a long injury list ahead of Sunday's big game against Hunslet Hawks at Whitebank.

Medical staff will be working overtime tonight as they check out and treat Kenny Hughes (ankle), Nathan Mason (stomach muscle), Ben Wood (shin), Mo Agoro (knee) and Dale Bloomfield (dead leg).

They will also seek updates on Jon Ford (chest infection) and Edwin Okanga-Ajwang, who has gone down with a viral infection.

Hughes, Mason, Agoro and Ford didn't play in last week's 54-12 defeat at York, who have opened up a six-point lead at the top of Championship One although second-placed Roughyeds have a game in hand.

The walking wounded will be given as long as possible to prove their fitness while the club actively seeks reinforcements.

Hunslet, in third place, could have up to four former Oldham players in their ranks in winger Andy Ballard, prop Luke Stenchion and half-back brothers James and Thomas Coyle.

A group of Hawks fans are doing a 35-mile sponsored walk from the South Leeds Stadium to Whitebank, while others are travelling to Greenfield by train and then walking the remaining seven miles.

They will be raising money for a local charity and another which helps with research into a cure for motor neurone disease.

Tickets for Neil Roden's testimonial dinner on Saturday, August 9, priced £25, will be on sale in the Whitebank club before and after the match.