Preview: Hunslet v Rochdale

Hawks coach Paul March will be without Darren Robinson (three matches) and David March (two matches) as the pair begin to serve the suspensions they were given by the RFL’s disciplinary committee on Tuesday.

Paul March steered his side to an impressive win at Halifax last week and says his side’s progress in the Northern Rail Cup should boost their chances in Co-operative Championship One.

He said: “We needed a performance and we didn’t have anything to lose. We went out there as individuals and we came back in as a team.

“We’ve got a great bunch of lads and they all want to work hard. Hopefully we’ve got some belief now and we can take it into the league campaign.

“We’ve got to play with the commitment we showed against Halifax, and if we do that people will start looking at us.”

Hornets are facing a half-back crisis after Ryan Powell (back) and Steven Roper (shoulder) were ruled out of action. Chris Hough is also injured.

Coach John Stankevitch said: “Both ourselves and Hunslet have shown that we can score points, but we’ve also both shown that we can concede points.

“This week’s game should be a very good battle. They rely a lot on offloads and losing David March will affect how they play, but we just need to focus on our own game plan. If we do that, we’ll give ourselves a chance.”