Batley primed for derby with Dewsbury

Batley coach John Kear says Dewsbury are a team to be respected as the Bulldogs look to bounce back from their defeat to Bradford.

Batley lost 17-16 at Bradford and Kear was furious about a controversial try awarded to Bradford which cost his side their place in the top four.

“It’s a cliché but it’s a derby and form goes out of the window,” he said.

“We know full well they are a good team because it was very, very close at the Summer Bash. We only closed it out with a penalty and two drop goals.

“I’m also fully aware that they managed to go to Bradford and come away with a win, which we narrowly failed to do.

“They are a team that’s got to be respected and feared so we’ll have to prepare as thoroughly for this game as we have for any this season.”

Batley hooker/loose forward Luke Blake is very doubtful after suffering a knee in the back last week.

Dewsbury Rams lost 24-8 at home to Halifax last weekend.

“Defensively we were really solid,” Dewsbury coach Glenn Morrison said.

“They scored four tries from kicks and only broke us down once, which was a disappointing try.

“But I thought the effort everyone put in for each other in defence was outstanding – we’ve just got to hang onto the ball, we went back to our sloppy ways.

“In derby matches form goes out of the window, if you can’t get up for it, you shouldn’t be playing the game.

“It will be a big battle, their top four hopes rely on this win and we want to continue to go up the table ourselves. Hopefully a big crowd will turn out to watch a good battle.”

New Dewsbury signing Mitch Stringer could make his debut for the club today.