Oldham wait on injury victims

DANNY LANGTREE . . . injury

WITH Lewis Palfrey and Danny Langtree picking up knocks in a 23-12 defeat at Workington, Oldham will welcome the break from Championship action when they play amateurs Kells in the fourth round of the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup at Bower Fold on Sunday.

Langtree limped off with a dead leg with quarter of an hour remaining at Derwent Park, to be followed soon afterwards by his captain nursing a similar injury. Both will be assessed at training tomorrow, together with two players who were fighting off illness over the weekend - Jon Ford and new signing Joe Burke from North Wales Crusaders.

Tom Ashton is out of hospital and back home after his emergency operation to remove a burst appendix, but it will be several weeks before he is ready for contact training again.

Peter Smith, the Kells coach, ran the rule over Oldham at Workington where he was also summarising on the game for local radio.

Kells were beaten by Siddal at home on Saturday in their first game in the National Conference League Premier Division after winning promotion.

Gary Middlehurst, Oldham’s other new signing, made his debut alongside Langtree in the second-row at Workington where Roughyeds, 16-12 down with a few minutes left, missed a great opportunity to win the game after a defence-bursting break by Danny Grimshaw.

Middlehurst’s inclusion meant the end of Josh Crowley’s remarkable run of 81 appearances in a row, stretching back to the first game of the 2013 season when he made his debut in Scott Naylor’s first game in charge.

Vice-captain Sam Gee also failed to make the 17 at Derwent Park as Naylor opted for three hookers — a tactic that often worked like a charm in League One last year.