ROUGHYEDS boss Sean Long insisted his side will improve at York this weekend after Sunday’s defeat to Swinton Lions at Heywood Road.
Now out of the Challenge Cup, attention switches to Sunday’s 1895 Cup clash with Oldham just two wins away from Wembley.
And Long will be looking for an instant response to avoid back-to-back defeats against a very strong York Knights side.
“We’re going to get better as a side the longer we are together,” he stressed.
“Sunday was an off day, it was a bit of a shock.
“We’ve got to put that defeat out of our minds to get ourselves ready for York, but we will learn from it.”
“We need to be a bit more hard-nosed and not get bored in games when things aren’t going our way.”
Sunday’s opponents York have gained a reputation for being a formidable championship outfit having reached the play-offs in the past two seasons.
The Knights, coached by former Scotland international Andrew Henderson, will be eager to get their hands on the 1895 Cup having lost out to Featherstone by just four points in the Wembley final in 2021.
With the likes of Will Dagger, Jimmy Keinhorst as well as Richie Myler now on York’s books, they will be vying for even more success this year.
Long has urged the Roughyeds fans to get behind his men, once again, as Oldham look to cause an upset.
“I wish we could have repaid the fantastic crowd last week – I was gutted for them,” he said.
“They’ve been great for us this year, travelling in their numbers to cheer us on and we’ll need them again this Sunday.”
Admission prices for the game at the LNER Community Stadium, 3pm kick off, are £15 for adults, £10 for concessions and free for under-16s.
Tickets can be purchased from the York ticket page.
