Kear: We deserved to beat Leigh

Batley Bulldogs coach John Kear says his team deserved its 24-22 win over Leigh in round one and that it was no fluke.

Batley shocked the Championship when they upset Leigh last weekend. In round two the Bulldogs face Featherstone away.

“They were tremendous; it wasn’t a fluke they deserved it,” Kear said.

“We know it will be very difficult at Featherstone. I think they are a better team than last year and they’ve got the dual-registration with Leeds.

“When you’ve got access to Ash Handley and Mitch Achurch it certainly doesn’t do your cause any harm.

“They’ll want to play well in front of their own fans so it’s going to be difficult but last week was difficult as well so we’re happy to embrace that.”

Batley have injury concerns ahead of Sunday with Brad Day suffering a concussion in the Leigh game and will be missing against Rovers.

Also loose forward Sam Scott ruptured his ACL and is likely to be out for six months, while hooker James Davey is out with a hamstring problem.

Featherstone Roves coach Jon Sharp is expecting a tight battle.

“John Kear’s a great coach and gets his teams up for the big games,” Sharp said.

“They played really well against Leigh and deserved the victory. Historically Featherstone and Batley games are always tight; the game last season was won after the hooter went.

“I would imagine it to be a very similar type of game this year. They will be coming here full of confidence following a brilliant victory and we need to be at our best and improve on what we put up last week.”