Neighbour to keep the faith

Gateshead first team coach Kevin Neighbour expects to be able to field a similar team to the one that faced Rochdale last week.

Neighbour said: “There are a couple of knocks, but it’s nothing that can’t be worked out. We should probably have a full strength squad.”

He added: “We were a bit slow in the first 10 minutes of each half against Rochdale, which was a bit of a surprise. We’ve normally started quite well, so to see that was disappointing, but our finishes – especially in the second half – were strong.

“London have kept a core group of players, and then built and developed around that.

“They’ve got a fairly decent pack who’ll try to wear us out, but we’ve shown against Whitehaven and in spells against Rochdale that we are capable of matching that.”

Skolars coach Joe Mbu has called for an improved attitude in defence as his team look to finish the season with pride.

The trip to the north east is their last away game of the year, and following last week’s 26-16 defeat against South Wales, Mbu is confident of a better showing on Sunday.

He said: “We fell off tackles too often, but we need to keep our heads up and go hard again for the last two games.”