Naylor remains confident

SCOTT Naylor

OLDHAM can sidestep the drop to League One if reaching the same level of performance as they did in the final 50 minutes against Bradford Bulls.

That's according to Roughyeds coach Scott Naylor, who took great heart from the way his charges fought back from a 20-point deficit to nearly snatch victory in a barnstorming revival at Bower Fold.

There were no prizes awarded for effort, though, and the 20-16 defeat kept Oldham in the last relegation place, one point behind nearest rivals Swinton Lions with five Kingstone Press Championship Shield fixtures remaining.

Naylor said: "Am I still confident of survival? Yes.

"It's obviously going to come down to us and Swinton, there's no doubt about that. We've got to play Swinton at their place.

"Are our fixtures that bad? I personally don't think they are.

"We play Toulouse and Dewsbury here (Bower Fold) and we play Rochdale and Swinton away.

"If you look at the fixtures, do you target a game? No, you've got to play the next team that's on the list, which is Batley.

"I'm not stood here thinking, 'Oh my god, we're going down', I'm stood here pleased with the 50 minutes that just happened against Bradford."

Kenny Hughes (dead leg) and Liam Thompson (sternum problem) are both expected to be fit and available for Sunday's away day to Batley - but Adam Neal (broken jaw) may be given another week before he is thrown back into the fray.

Naylor went on: "It's no use us going into the Batley game with no confidence, feeling down and sorry for ourselves.

"I think we did that against Bradford a little bit on the back of the Sheffield game, and I think it showed.

"Then the lads got confidence from wherever and they grew into the game, and looked like the old team when we were causing everybody problems - London and Featherstone and people like that.

"So that's what I'm trying to get back to."