Batley expect tight test up in Cumbria

For the two sides have already met twice this season, with both games sealed with a drop goal

Last week, Batley edged to a narrow 18-16 derby victory over Dewsbury Rams as they continued their race for a top four place.

Coach John Kear said: “I was very pleased with our will to win and attitude, rather than the performance against Dewsbury.

“Performance-wise we didn’t do ourselves any favours. We didn’t look after the ball very well or build field position very well but what we did show was great desire, will and urgency to defend and ultimately that’s what brought us home.

Kear is looking for improvements from his side at Whitehaven.

He said: “I rate Whitehaven as a really good footballing team. They throw some very good attacking shapes at you and if we give them the amount of ball we allowed Dewsbury to have, we’ll find it very difficult.”

Alistair Leak is set to return for Batley.

Featherstone Rovers host Workington Town knowing they must win their remaining four games to clinch a top-four spot.

Rovers slipped down to sixth place in the Championship table following last weekend’s 35-10 loss at Sheffield Eagles and must win their remaining four fixtures to have a chance of playing in the Super 8s Qualifiers.

Dewsbury Rams hope to put the misery of their defeat to Batley behind them tomorrow when they host London Broncos.

Rams coach Glenn Morrison said: “I thought it was a good performance from us, both sides played well but unfortunately we just couldn’t get over the line.

“It’s probably another game where we had chances to win that we didn’t take, so we’re a little disappointed there but there’s a lot of positives.

“We need to bounce back against London this weekend. London and Leigh are probably the two form teams in the table right now. We’ve had some good results over London the last couple of years, especially at home. We know if we turn up in the right frame of mind we can get a result.”

Glenn confirmed that Dalton Grant suffered a torn Achilles and will be out for the remainder of the season.