Aston pleased with Eagles attitude
Sheffield coach Mark Aston says he wants his team to put the one-point loss they suffered to Oldham in April right tonight when the Roughyeds travel to Yorkshire.
The Eagles host Oldham this evening. Sheffield were defeated by their opponents in a close fixture earlier in the season and just two points seperate the two teams on the Championship ladder.
“I’ve watched Oldham in their last few games, they’re hard working and a really enthusiastic group,” Aston said.
“They did enough to beat us at their place and we need to put that right this weekend.
“It’s about getting back to back wins for us, we’re taking one game at a time but if we can beat Oldham the next one comes along and you start to get a bit of form, which is what you want to take in to the next games.”
Sheffield ended a run of six consecutive defeats in impressive style with a 35-10 victory over Featherstone Rovers.
“I’ve said all along to the boys it’s not about ability, it’s about attitude and we certainly had that attitude and put in a real strong performance, which was great,” Aston said.
“We needed to win and get a smile on our faces and remember why we play this game because we love it and we enjoy it.
“It was important to get the win, we totally dominated the game from start to finish.”
The Eagles will be boosted by the availability of Stan Robin and Thibaut Margalet on loan from Catalans Dragons. They will be without George Tyson as he serves the first week of a two match ban.
Oldham secured a 26-18 win over Whitehaven to move within one point of 10th spot in the Kingstone Press Championship table and end a run of seven consecutive defeats.
“It was nice to get back to winning ways,” Oldham coach Scott Naylor said.
“It was a bit of a strange game, to go down 12-0 and then come in at half time in front.
“We started the game quite nervous, I think because we understood how important the game was but once we calmed down and settled in to the game, we actually looked fine.
“When we went in front we never looked like losing the game. We’ve just got to take that into our away performances and produce the same kind of grit and determination that we do at home.
“With the defeats we’ve had over the last month or so it’s not easy to be confident but the lads showed a lot of guts and maturity at the weekend.
“They scored some nice tries, played some good rugby and defended well after the first 10 minutes. It was nice to see and hopefully that will give us a lift going in to the Sheffield game.”
Oldham will be looking to secure their first away win of the season when they travel to Sheffield Eagles on Friday.
“You wouldn’t think Sheffield would be in the position they are in the division but them being two points in front of us makes it another important game.
“I’m hoping it’ll be another close game; I’d take another one-point victory against Sheffield.
“They had a really good result against Featherstone last weekend and apparently played fantastic, they scored a lot of points as well which will give them a lot of confidence.
“I’m hoping we go there with a same attitude and put in a similar performance to what we do at home.”
Jack Spencer is a doubt for Friday’s game after taking a knock to his shoulder.