Scott Naylor expects his Oldham RL side to hit back strongly from last week’s inexplicably awful performance in a 31-0 defeat at Doncaster.

It was Roughyeds’ worst all-round offering of the campaign and arguably the poorest for two or three seasons.

A win at the Keepmoat Stadium would have taken them second and pushed Doncaster down to seventh.

As it is, Naylor’s men now lie fourth at the halfway stage in the Betfred League 1 campaign and five points separates them from table-topping Whitehaven.

If Roughyeds are to mount a serious challenge for top spot they will have to string together a good run of wins and more than they picked up in the first half of the campaign – six victories from 10 outings.

Neither coaching staff nor club management are panicking, however, and both expect a hugely-positive reaction against Keighley Cougars at the Vestacare Stadium on Sunday (3pm kick off).

Only three weeks ago Roughyeds blitzed the Cougars 52-12 on their own patch but they have been beaten twice by Doncaster since and will be determined to return to winning ways this weekend.

Naylor said: “Last Sunday was a disaster in terms of skill and quality, but not in terms of attitude.”