Aston hoping for Sheffield response
Sheffield coach Mark Aston is hoping his team can respond against Swinton after a poor performance last weekend.
The Eagles meet Swinton on Saturday afternoon in the Challenge Cup.
Sheffield are coming off a 26-24 loss at home to Whitehaven.
“We were disappointed last week, we didn’t play to our capabilities,” coach Mark Aston said.
“We’ve been quite honest and straight with each other this week and that’s all we can be. Credit to Whitehaven they came here and were very good.
“We couldn’t answer the questions they asked and we let ourselves down. We were very very poor and left it too late to get the desired result.
“I rate Swinton, I think Duffs (coach John Duffy) has done a very good job with them. They’ve got some good young players who can play football.
“They ask questions all over the field. Defensively we’ve been poor over the last few weeks. Swinton racked up 26 points against us last time, so we know enough about them, we just need to make sure that we are better defensively.
“I’m impressed with Swinton I think they are very close to getting their first win – but hopefully not this weekend!”
Swinton Lions lost 30-10 at home to Featherstone Rovers last weekend.
“It was probably our worst performance, which was disappointing,” Lions coach John Duffy said.
“We know Featherstone are a good side and we spoke about sticking with these big sides and trying to get something out of the game.
“They didn’t need me ripping into them at training, the squad got together and had a chat about it themselves so we’ve had a good response this week.
“Sheffield had a blip last week and might have had a telling off from Mark and no doubt we’ll bear the brunt of that. We’ve just got to go there with a good attitude and be ready to grind out a performance.
“Once we get one win we’ll get a few but the longer it goes on the more the confidence drops but we’re trying to keep the lads’ spirits up. We’ve got to go there with the right attitude and be prepared to grind it out for 80 minutes.”