Strong will the key to halting poor run

JAMES Coyle has put the onus on the Roughyeds to be mentally stronger.

The former Wigan half-back says that the unsettling news surrounding the future of the club can't overshadow the fact that on too many occasions of late Oldham have let games slip out of their grasp.

In each of the last seven matches in league and cup, the team has held a half-time lead.

But only three of those have ended in victory.

The latest second-half reversal of fortunes happened on Sunday, as Keighley battled back from being 18-12 down at one stage to nick three crucial Co-operative Championship One points via a

24-22 win over their promotion rivals at Boundary Park.

Like his coach Tony Benson, on second viewing Coyle (pictured, right) felt the first-half dismissal of his brother Thomas was a tough call by referee Jamie Leahy, but still believes the end result should have been without question.

“I have looked back at it (Thomas Coyle’s red card) on the video and their player just fell awkwardly and stayed down for about five minutes,” he added.

“I was a bit disappointed with the decision, but at the same time we had the game won and let it slip.

“It seems to be a mental thing with us. A missed tackle and they came straight through our middle to score and take the lead (through George Raynor on 68 minutes) and we couldn’t get it back.

“It is happening a lot in our performances where we lose concentration and let in tries — you look back to games against Gateshead and Featherstone and it was the same there, bad 10-minute spells which are so costly.

“You can’t make excuses. We should have easily won the Keighley game with the team we had out there.”

Coyle rejects the notion that his filling in as captain for sacked skipper Robert Roberts and his deputy, the currently sidelined Paul Highton, has had too much of an effect on the injury-hit side.

He does admit, though, that the issues surrounding former board member and majority shareholder Bill Quinn may have had something of an adverse effect on performance.

“Everyone here has been playing the game since they were 10 years old and when you look at the likes of Thomas (Coyle), Jamie I’Anson, Dave Allen and others, they have grown up around some of the best players in the world,” Coyle added. “So we should have good habits.

“Our biggest problem is mental toughness and there is no easy solution to that. The lads just have to put it on themselves to be better and from Tuesday night’s training session onwards you have to focus on the game — even while you are at work or at home. It isn’t enough to turn up for training and forget about it all again.

“Defence is a mental thing, 95-per-cent of the time. So you will struggle in that aspect if you don’t have it, as we have shown this year.

“It is attitude, rather than skill and ability, where we perhaps have a problem.

“And that is where, if the problems at the club do affect the players, it will come in.

“Because if you not at your happiest, you will take short cuts.

“We have to get over that, but I am still confident that we can.”