Nield close to return

Outside back Steve Nield may feature for Oldham this weekend for the first time since he was injured against Keighley in May 2015.

While sidelined for 19 months Nield had a knee completely rebuilt and retained an active involvement with his hometown club, although he wasn’t re-signed for the 2016 KP Championship campaign.

In the latter part of the 2015 promotion-winning campaign, at the end of which he won a clubman-of-the-year award, and for the whole of last season the 26-year old helped out on match days as a member of the bench and backroom team.

Oldham chairman Chris Hamilton said: “Steve always wanted to do his rehab with us and to keep involved with the club and we were, and are, equally keen to help him all we can.”

Nield has done a full pre-season with the club he has been with since he was 19, and he will be given a shirt in the warm-up games that start on Sunday against Swinton Lions at Heywood Road, Sale.

Oldham coach Scott Naylor said: “Before we can fully determine what level Steve is at after such a long time out of the game (19 months) we need to look at him in action.

“He will feature in the friendlies and then we will decide what we consider to be in Steve’s best interests; whether he will go out on loan or stay with us.”

Also given a run in the pre-season games, which continue at Barrow on Sunday, January 15 (2pm) and against Rochdale Hornets at Bower Fold for the Law Cup on Sunday, January 22 (3pm), will be young winger Harry Warburton, a trialist from amateurs Folly Lane, who has impressed the Roughyeds’ coaching staff while training with the club for the past few weeks.