Naylor's delight over returning forwards

HELD UP: Liam Thompson is stopped in his tracks

WHILE fans will be looking for big performances from comeback duo George Tyson and Richard Lepori in Sunday's Bower Fold clash with Dewsbury Rams, Scott Naylor and his staff will be equally focused on the engine room and, in particular, on Ben Davies and Liam Thompson.

Having spent the first few weeks of the season struggling with lower-back complaints, the two forwards made their first Championship appearances of the season at Hull KR and impressed Naylor despite their lack of match practice and KR's total domination of the game.

Thompson, last year's player of the year, has been at Oldham long enough to build a reputation as a 100-per-cent grafter who can be relied on to put in a shift whenever he puts on the shirt.

CAPTURE

New-boy Davies, a close-season capture, has not had the best of luck since his arrival from Whitehaven, but on debut at KCOM Craven Park he showed what he was made of when enjoying two good spells off the bench.

With a comparatively small squad, Naylor needs forwards like Thompson and Davies to go from strength to strength as the season progresses and he's hoping their performances at Hull will be the start of even better things from 25-year-old Thompson and former Wigan and Widnes prop Davies (27), who has 37 Super League appearances on his CV.

Coach Naylor said: "They were sore at training on Tuesday, but that was to be expected. It was a big ask for them to face opponents like Hull KR after being out for so long.

"It was a bad day for us right cross the park, but I thought Ben and 'Thompy' were two of our best."

Oldham were in the wars with Gareth Owen (broken nose) and Danny Grimshaw (concussion) suffering, but Owen will be okay and there's a chance Grimshaw will be too.

He's been following head-injury protocol and a decision will be made later. If he plays, it will be the centre's 150th career game after 94 at Hunslet, 29 at York, two at Doncaster and 24 with Roughyeds.

Naylor will be looking for a response from his players after the 48-0 hammering on Humberside.

"We paid the price for our superb performance against London," said the Oldham boss. "Rovers saw the match video, expected a tough time against us, set off at 100 miles an hour and blew us away.

"To keep things in perspective it was our first blip of the season. We've played three of the top four teams and run two of them very close.

"The fact that Dewsbury are seeking their first win makes them very dangerous opponents."

The injury-hit Rams haven't won since they beat Naylor's men 30-12 at home at the end of last season after Roughyeds had already clinched their Championship place for 2017.