Naylor has belief in Roughyeds squad

SCOTT NAYLOR . . . upbeat after back-to-back league victories

SCOTT Naylor is putting his trust in a "great bunch of lads" to win their relegation battle and keep Oldham in the Kingstone Press Championship.

Successive wins against Whitehaven at Bower Fold and Sheffield Eagles in South Yorkshire have taken Roughyeds out of the bottom two for the first time in weeks and plunged Whitehaven into the red zone to join their Cumbrian neighbours Workington Town.

Oldham, third bottom, have the same number of points as full-time Sheffield, but with inferior for-and-against statistics.

Swinton Lions and Dewsbury Rams make it a six-club fight to the finish and Swinton are Oldham's next opponents when they come to Bower Fold on Sunday (3pm), having already beaten Naylor's men twice this year.

Roughyeds will go into the game on a high after producing a high-octane performance to win 24-16 at Sheffield with tries by Kieran Gill, his second in two games since signing on loan from Castleford Tigers, Kenny Hughes, Lewis Foster and Liam Thompson.

Completing a league double over the Eagles, it was a throwback to the quality rugby with which Roughyeds won four games out of five in mid-season against Batley, Sheffield, Hull KR (Challenge Cup) and Featherstone.

Coach Naylor said: "We've got to build on this now. I'm sure our confidence will soar, and so it should after the way we played at Sheffield.

"We're looking forward to the rest of the season with a great bunch of lads who want to do well for themselves, the club and the fans."

There are 10 games left ­- three in the regular season and then another seven in the Championship Shield.

Regular season fixtures are as follows:

SWINTON (15pts): Oldham (A), Dewsbury (A), Batley (H).

DEWSBURY (14): Workington (A), Swinton (H), Leigh (A).

SHEFFIELD (12): London (A), Leigh (H), Whitehaven (A).

OLDHAM (12): Swinton (H), Bradford (A), Workington (H).

WHITEHAVEN (11): Bradford (A), Workington (A), Sheffield (H).

WORKINGTON (5): Dewsbury (H), Whitehaven (H), Oldham (A).