Workington targeting promotion to the Championship, says Dec O’Donnell

Drew Darbyshire 24 Apr 2020 3:22 PM

Workington hooker Dec O’Donnell says they want to gain promotion to the Championship this season after underachieving last year.

Town finished sixth in League 1 at the end of the regular campaign in 2019 – and fell short to Newcastle 38-18 in the play-offs.

The Cumbrian club are aiming to make amends this season though and gain promotion from League 1, according to O’Donnell.

He said: “I think it’s fair to say that we underachieved last season considering the squad we had.

“But Chris (Thorman, coach) has come in, I’d say the culture around the club has completely changed and the environment is a good one to be in.

“If you speak to any player from any club in the division then I think they’d say their ultimate goal is promotion and we are no different at Workington.

“We are pushing for promotion and we want to be in the play-offs. Being realistic, I don’t see why there’s any reason why we shouldn’t be up there.

“There is a good group up here and a few amateur lads who have signed for us who are keen as mustard. We’ve got a good blend of players, there are some experienced lads but there’s some hungry young players who want to make a name for themselves.”

O’Donnell initially joined Workington on loan from Championship side Leigh, with the Ireland international making the move permanent over the off-season.

And the Wigan academy product has been impressed with how coach Chris Thorman is running things at Derwent Park.

O’Donnell continued: “You can’t fault anything he’s been doing so far. He’s bringing a totally different style of play to Workington.

“He’s investing a lot of time and effort in the community game in Cumbria and that’s how you build steps to having a successful team in that area.

“Chris is buying in to a lot in Workington and thats good because there are lot of strong amateur teams in Cumbria.

“I personally feel like I owe Workington a lot as well. They gave me a shot to get game time that I wasn’t getting at Leigh and I owe them a big season.”

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