Dewsbury confident of Fev upset

Luke Blake (ribs) is Warren Jowitt’s only injury absentee as the Dewsbury coach prepares for the visit of Featherstone.

James Walker remains suspended, but dual-registration signing William Barthau could make his Rams debut after Dewsbury agreed a deal with Catalan Dragons.

The Rams lost 18-14 in a tense match at Barrow Raiders last week. Jowitt said: “We played well enough to win, but unfortunately things went against us.”

But the Dewsbury chief believes his side are well capable of upsetting the odds against a Rovers team that has lost only one Co-operative Championship match this year.

Jowitt added: “We’re at home, which is a bonus, and we’re back in form now.

“When we’re in form we can beat anybody. We should have beaten Widnes, we should have beaten Barrow, and we have got the ability to beat Featherstone.”

Rovers coach Daryl Powell has openly challenged his squad to prove they are mentally strong enough to play Rugby League at the highest level.

Featherstone went down 70-0 against St Helens last week, leaving Powell to admit: “I’ve got some complaints with the mentality of my team.”

He added: “The players have got to start proving to me that they’ve got what it takes from a mental perspective to go for 80 minutes. That’s something we’ve got to get right, and I’m fed up of talking about it.

“We’ve got to get it right because Dewsbury will come at us. We’re not an 80-minute team at the moment and we’ve got to try to find a way to be one.”