Kingstone Press Championship preview: Workington Town v Batley Bulldogs

Looking back on the 72-0 defeat at Featherstone Rovers, Workington Town coach Phil Veivers was not happy with his team.

“Everything we tried never came off, we defended poorly and Featherstone were very good, everything they tried came off,” he said.

“Sometimes you need the bounce of the ball to go your way and they got it that day. Fair play to them they got a good result but that game’s gone I’ve put it in the bin and we move on to Batley this weekend.

“I watched Batley’s game against Whitehaven and I don’t know how they lost. John Kear has been quoted as saying they are in a pretty dark place at the moment – it’s going to be a dark game then because we’re in the same place. We’ll see which one comes out into the light!”

Wing Sam Forrester, second row Kurt Horton and prop Latu Fifita are all doubtful for Sunday’s game.

Batley Bulldogs were bitterly disappointed with their home defeat by Whitehaven last week. Coach John Kear said: “As a team we are very fragile because we feel as if we’ve thrown a game away. Obviously we’ve been a little down but I must admit they’ve trained very well, which has lifted the morale of the team.

“One thing Phil Veivers did when he first went up to Workington was to work on their defence and they really did tighten up. I have no doubt that’s what he’ll be working on this week so we’re expecting a bit of a war of attrition.

“It’s always a very difficult place to go and we’re fully aware of that. There’s not only the travel problems but it’s a very tight pitch and obviously when your pitch has got idiosyncrasies, which we’re fully aware of with our own, you can play to its strengths and Workington really do that.”