Championship preview: Whitehaven v Dewsbury (Thurs)

Whitehaven coach Dave Woods could name an unchanged side as he looks to boost the club’s chances of finishing in sixth place in the Kingstone Press Championship table with victory over Dewsbury Rams.

Woods, whose side beat York City Knights 20-4 on Sunday, said: “We trained on Tuesday and everyone’s all right.

“This is a good opportunity for us to put some distance between ourselves and Dewsbury, but we’ll need to play well to get the points off them.

“It would be good to have that gap, there’s still a long way to go.”

Rams coach Glenn Morrison has described his side’s trip to Cumbria as “another Grand Final” as Dewsbury seek to secure their place in the top eight.

The Rams are currently seventh, but are only four points ahead of ninth-placed Doncaster.

Morrison said: “This is another Grand Final game because Whitehaven are around the same place as us in the table.

“We’re still in with a chance of the play-offs and this is going to be a really tough one.

“Whitehaven is not the best place to go on a Thursday night, but we’ve got to make the best of it.”

Lucas Walshaw (ankle), Tommy Gallagher (ankle), James Craven (back) and Brad Watkinson (knee) are all facing a race against time to be fit for Thursday’s clash.