League 1 Cup first round preview: Oldham v Coventry Bears

Scott Naylor, the Oldham coach, isn’t a fan of pre-season games so is relishing his side’s Cup tie

““We’re looking forward to the Coventry game, especially with them being an unknown quantity,” he said.

“We’ve been talking about them and not taking them too lightly. I’m hoping that my lads will turn up and give 100 per cent.”

Everyone at Coventry is really excited about Sunday’s tie, which is the club’s first senior fixture since they became members of the RFL last year.

Coach Tom Tsang said: “Starting from scratch, we had to work really hard to get a squad together but I think we’ve done that fairly well. The way we’ve trained has been pleasing and we had a camp in Spain, which was a nice touch.

“We’ve played two games, at Hemel I thought we were really strong with the ball and last week against Gloucester we got our first win – the weather was a big leveller but the effort and attitude came through.

“I’ve watched some of Oldham’s games so I’ve got a pretty good idea of the way they play and arguably were unlucky not to get promoted last year.

“They’ll be strong and I know it will be a very tough game but the energy is building nicely for the weekend.”