Championship 1 Preview: Gateshead Thunder v London Skolars

Improving Gateshead Thunder are aiming to collect their second Kingstone Press Championship One victory of the season when they host London Skolars on Sunday.

Thunder collected a bonus point after their narrow defeat at Oxford last week, while Chris Heil, Danny Nicklas and Aaron Ollett all earned selection in the Premier Sports team of the week.

Gateshead coach Kevin Neighbour said: “For periods of the game we were pretty dominant, but we switched off at the wrong times and we weren’t composed enough to get over the line.

“However, there were lots for us to take from it. I was pretty happy with how we went and I’d have taken a bonus point at the start, but then there’s the frustration of having seen that we could have won the game if we’d been a bit smarter.”

Nicklas is available again this week, while Neighbour reported no fresh injury concerns ahead of Sunday’s clash.

Skolars coach Joe Mbu is boosted by the news that James Anthony has avoided a suspension after submitting an Early Guilty Plea on a grade A charge of punching.