Angry and determined to improve with haste

WE ARE really disappointed with how we played at York last week, as we know we can perform a lot better than we showed on the night.

At the same time, as a group we are a bit angry at the fact that we have had so much time off before a game — particularly when it is one as important as that one was.

Before travelling to the Huntington Stadium, we had a full three weeks without a fixture and that leaves you behind the eight-ball before you have even started.

That statistics show that we completed 97-per-cent of sets down at York's end. If we had more recent matches under our belt, it would have given us the cohesion we needed to turn that pressure into points.

We were also annoyed with ourselves at the one soft try we conceded through a missed tackle, as well as more than one of the decisions that went against us at both ends of the field.

Workington will be a different challenge for us now. We have to go up there, get stuck in and then come home on the bus again.

It is important that we get back into it quickly.

They have lost some good players but it is never easy for any team playing up there. We have to work hard on what we need to improve and that process has already started.

As far as the Championship One title goes for us now, you can never say die and we haven't given up hope.

It is disappointing, though, in that it could have been a very different situation for us.

As it is, the likelihood that Dewsbury will slip up three times is less than the chances of them losing once or twice.

What we will do is keep on going as best we can in order that we are in best shape for any final we play in.

On the squad front we are pretty slim at the moment. Dave Allen should be back this weekend but Paul Highton has a swollen knee and Chris Baines had to go to hospital as we suspected he had broken one of the bones in his leg at York.

Thankfully, that wasn't the case and with those latter two players we will monitor them this week.

Luke Menzies is still out for around three weeks with his ankle injury, Two Bobs (Robert Roberts) is missing for another month yet with his knee injury, Phil Joseph is struggling to make training due to problems getting staff at his pub in Huddersfield and Richard Mervill is busy fighting fires.

We are hoping that Lucas Onyango will be back this week after being off sick, but it is generally difficult at present.

With Dave Allen pulling out against York and Wayne Kerr coming in, the 17 players we put out on the field were all we had.

tonybenson@oldham-chronicle.co.uk