Rams target derby success at Bulldogs

Jode Sheriffe was one of several Rams players to earn praise from coach Neil Kelly for his performance at Leigh.

The Rams make the short trip across the valley aiming to bounce back from defeats to full-time sides Leigh and Toulouse in their last two outings.

Dewsbury showed promising signs but they were unable to prevent a 36-0 defeat to the Centurions last Sunday although coach Neil Kelly was not left too despondent by the loss.

Kelly said: “We lost 36-0, which is well and truly beaten, but I’m not going home disappointed.

“I’m going home thinking we have got a group of players here with the right fight, attitude and spirit.

“I think with a couple of additions we can go somewhere but the players have to get fitter and wiser first off.

“Making those chances count is the difference between the teams in the division above and the league below.

“You have to train yourself habitually to take those chances and once you have trained habitually then overall you’ll be competitive and against most teams in this division you will get a victory.”

Dewsbury’s three defeats have come against three of the strongest sides in the division, with their other a 12-0 reversal to Championship leaders London, but Kelly is confident his side are more than a match for other teams in the division and knows victory over the Bulldogs will maintain fifth place in the table.

Kelly added: “The zero was obviously the big downer but if you play a full-time team and you are on the wrong end of what seemed like a harsh penalty count in the first 20 minutes and you make some errors and your first-up contact is not right, you are always going to struggle.

“There were a lot of things we did wrong in the first 20 minutes which led to the 18-0, but for the rest of the first half there wasn’t much to choose between the sides.

“The second half was a rearguard action, we had some injuries and we ended up with players playing all over the place, but we showed great spirit and great character.

“We did some positive things and Shannon Wakeman, Matty English, Jode Sheriffe, Robbie Ward and especially Josh Guzdek all played really well.”

James Glover (ankle) and Michael Knowles (chest) picked up knocks in the defeat to Leigh.