Workington Town v Hunslet: We can’t afford any more slip-ups says Gary Thornton

Hunslet's Dan Hawksworth is tackled by Workington's Sean Penkywiecz during the last meeting between the sides.

The Parksiders visit Workington Town tomorrow in Betfred League One (3pm). Thornton’s side – who did not play last week, when Workington suffered a surprise defeat at Coventry Bears – lost at home to London Skolars in their most recent league game and were beaten by Town, also at South Leeds Stadium, in the 1895 Cup two weeks ago.

They have slipped from top to third in the table and are only four points clear of seventh-placed Workington. The top team this year will be promoted automatically with the sides from second to sixth going into the play-offs.

“Losing at home against London put a big dent in our plans,” Thornton reflected. “We can’t afford to lose many so we have got to get one back and that means winning away from home.

Hunslet's Tom Ashton in action against Workington.

“We’ve got two tough away games coming up at Workington and Newcastle, but everybody’s capable of beating everybody. Teams are unexpectedly getting beaten and we can’t get dragged into that.

“We have got to go into every game looking to win it. I don’t want to be scrambling at the back end of the season for a top-six spot, we want to put distance between ourselves and the other teams so we need to be winning as many games as we can.”

Hunslet’s form has dipped after a strong start to the year and Thornton stressed: “In the last two games we definitely should have done better.

“This is definitely a game we are looking forward to, to get back on track.

“I am looking for a reaction from the players.”

Having faced Town only 14 days ago, when Hunslet were pipped 31-28, Thornton added: “We learned quite a quite a bit about them that day.

“They have got a new coach so they will be doing some things differently and we need to be mindful of that, but I think it [the previous meeting] will help us.

“We know what to expect and what their threats and dangers are – we just have to deal with them better.

“There’s some disappointed people from that game and the week before and this is a good opportunity to put it right.”