Bentley’s blow for Roughyeds

VALU BENTLEY, Oldham’s Kiwi loose-forward, has suffered a recurrence of his early-season collarbone injury and will be out of action for three weeks to a month.

He was hurt originally in the Roughyeds’ first Northern Rail Cup game at Leigh on January 31.

He missed the next three matches in the same competition before returning to the side in the first league game at Swinton, which Roughyeds won 38-20 to spark a run of six wins in a row.

Bentley played in each of those six victories and it was in the most recent of them, a 22-16 triumph at South Wales Scorpions last Sunday, that he took another heavy challenge on the same joint.

It will be a blow to Roughyeds to be without their regular loose-forward in Sunday’s tough fourth-round Carnegie Challenge Cup tie at Hunslet Hawks (kick-off 3pm).

Young prop Ben Mellor, a travelling reserve in Neath last week, also steps down from the squad in order to play in the reserves at Featherstone tonight (8pm).

Back in the senior squad, and expected to be pushing strongly for places in the 17 at Hunslet, will be forwards Wayne Kerr and Craig Robinson and scrum-half Matty Ashe.

Robinson (thigh) and Ashe (groin) were the biggest doubts early in the week, but their injuries have responded well to treatment and there are high hopes they will come through fitness tests tomorrow.

Oldham (from): Ashe, Boults, Brocklehurst, Chandler, Clarke, Ellison, Fogerty, Heaton, I’Anson, Kerr, O’Connor, Onyango, Reilly, Robinson, M Roden, N Roden, St Hilaire, Sutton, Whitmore.

Ian Hodson is on stand-by to earn a call-up to the 19 if anyone drops out, but he will be given important game time in the reserves tonight along with two players who will be making their comebacks after lengthy injury absences - Kashley Watkins and John Gillam.