SCOTT Naylor will pick from a position of strength when he sits down to choose his line-up for Friday afternoon’s holiday clash with league leaders Hunslet at the Vestacare Stadium, kicking off at 3pm.
He’ll have 23 players to go at, including brand-new old boy Danny Langtree plus three senior regulars who didn’t figure in the defeat at Newcastle last time out — full-back Ritchie Hawkyard, prop Phil Joy and his fellow front-rower Ben Davies.
“We had 17 available for the Widnes cup-tie and 18 at Newcastle, so it will be nice to be picking from a strong squad for this very important game,” said the Roughyeds boss, adding: “I don’t think it will do any harm to shake it up a little bit.”
He was fulsome in his praise of the squad for the way they have responded to his harsh words after the defeat at Newcastle in a game in which they led 22-6 after half an hour.
Said Naylor:
“The boys have taken on board what they were shown and what they were told and they have trained really well since.
“I’m expecting a very good performance on Friday.
“With ‘Langers’ back and Danny Bridge getting closer to his return by the day we’ve a lot going for us right now and the mood in the camp is a very positive one.
“I know its tight at the top with few points separating a clutch of clubs, but I’m concerned with performance than position. Get the performance right and the league position will take care of itself.
“We’ve lost two in the league, against Workington and Newcastle, but we shouldn’t have lost either. We should be top of the league right now, but we’re not because of ourselves and because we can’t see games out when we’re in the lead.
“Those are the things we’ve been working on.”
