CH1 preview: Oldham v Rochdale (Sun)

Oldham coach Scott Naylor is hopeful Jon Ford could feature in Sunday’s Kingstone Press Championship One play-off final qualifier.

Naylor said: “The fact he’s well enough now to join in training again has given us a lot more hope.”

Rochdale Hornets captain Wayne English is rated as ‘less than 50/50’ by coach Ian Talbot ahead of Sunday’s showdown.

Talbot said: “Wayne’s been key for us this season, but he missed training on Tuesday and we’ll assess him again on Thursday.”

Talbot added: “Last week we didn’t produce the best performance, but we got the result. I’d settle for another bad performance on Sunday if we get the result we want.

“There’s lots of local rivalry and tradition involved between Rochdale and Oldham.

“This is the fifth meeting of the season and they’re ahead so far, so we’re gunning for it. We’ve already been to Whitebank and got a win this season, so that gives us some confidence.”