ROUGHYEDS boss Stuart Littler believes his men need to be smarter after suffering a 28-22 defeat to Doncaster.
Oldham were unable to stop a second half comeback from Doncaster, after leading 22-6 at the Vestacare Stadium.
Individual errors proved costly when the South Yorkshire side took the lead with barely four minutes left on the clock.
“I’ve got a frustrated and down dressing room, but we’ve got a game on Friday night to put it right,” said Littler.
“We knew from day one this week that Doncaster were going to go for eighty minutes — they are a well-coached and well-drilled team — so we have to be a bit smarter.
“Our completion rate was the lowest it has been all year, by far. We have completed really high throughout the year and this is the first bit of adversity we have faced as a group for weeks.
“The result is a test of character, but we win together and we lose together — we have to pick each other up and carry on learning.”
At half-time Oldham were two scores in front, despite a far from perfect performance with Doncaster having a lot more of the ball.
Roughyeds were winning the arm wrestle, but those errors compounded in the second forty and Dons capitalised on a tiring Oldham side.
“I thought we did enough to win the game, but we didn’t play well when we were in front,” added Littler.
“We played like we were behind chasing the game and when we scored a try in the second half, we made an error straight afterwards.
“We were constantly giving them a leg up and helping someone up off the floor.
“If we nail our processes and turn the ball over where we want to, the game would have been difficult for Doncaster — we didn’t do that and we invited pressure on ourselves and that was what eventually caught us out.”
With play-offs looking a likely destination for Oldham now, the chances are the two sides will meet again.
“We need some honesty in the video room and some accountability because that’s how we grow as individuals,” said the Oldham boss.
“It’s how we learn from those mistakes and how we get better both individually and also as a collective.
“Doncaster were glad to get out of here with the points. We have to dust it off, learn and get better for when we play these teams come the back end of the year, if we can’t go up as champions.”
