Depleted Whitehaven call off friendly

Whitehaven have been forced to call-off their planned friendly against Barrow this weekend.

They have cited player welfare as a reason having fielded under-strength teams in their two friendlies so far, against Widnes and Swinton.

Only 15 men were available to face the Lions on Sunday, while only 16 featured against the Super League Vikings.

A club statement said: “A number of injuries, illnesses and unavoidable unavailabilities means that while the decision hasn’t been taken lightly we have no choice to postpone the fixture to give the squad the chance to recover for the start of the League 1 season in just under two weeks time.”

Whitehaven are due to face derby rivals Workington on February 4, before opening the new League One season at home to Oldham on Sunday February 18.