FORWARDS Jack Spencer and Shaun Pick, who didn’t play at Featherstone, are called up into Matt Diskin’s 23-man Oldham squad for today’s second and final pre-season warm-up clash with Halifax Panthers at Bower Fold, kick-off 4pm.

They replace prop Tyler Dupree, who has an ankle injury, and centre Ben Heaton, once a long-serving Halifax regular, who took a bang to his head at Featherstone and now has to adhere to RFL protocols regarding concussion.

The four who won’t have played in either of the two warm-up games are backs Kyran Johnson, John Hutchings and Cam Leeming, all of whom have injury or fitness problems, plus hooker Matty Wilkinson, who broke a leg in training and has since had surgery.

The game will be played behind locked doors but fans can watch on Our League. It is free to Oldham’s season-ticket holders, but others who registered during this week got it for £4.95 and anyone registering today can watch for £10.

Halifax have announced a 21-man squad in which there are eight potential debutants, including former Oldham centre Zack McComb.

Coach of the newly-named and branded Panthers is Simon Grix, elder brother of player Scott Grix.

Their assistant coach, Rikki Sheriffe, is a brother of Oldham forward and coach Jode Sheriffe.

McComb was a Roughyeds regular in 2018 and 2019, totalled 26 tries in 42 games, including a crucial second-half touchdown in his last game for the club – the 18-14 Promotion Final win against Newcastle Thunder, which clinched the Roughyeds’ promotion to the Championship.

He was expected to re-sign for Oldham and fans were surprised when it emerged he had joined Sheffield Eagles. He had one year in South Yorkshire and then realised an ambition to sign for his hometown club Halifax.

Oldham boss Matt Diskin will be looking for a much-improved performance after the heavy defeat at Featherstone in his side’s first run-out for a year.

Diskin said ahead of the game: “There were some positives at Featherstone, despite the heavy defeat, and with a lot of hard work and some fine tuning they can make a big difference for us.”

The competitive action for Roughyeds starts against Barrow Raiders in the Challenge Cup first round next Saturday, March 20.

Roughyeds squad: Dan Abram, James Barran, Liam Bent, Danny Bridge, Tommy Brierley. Lewis Charnock, Matthew Fletcher, Callum Green, Declan Gregory, Joe Hartley, Dave Hewitt, Ben Holcroft, Ryan Ince, Phil Joy, Liam Kirk, Danny Langtree, Luke Nelmes, Gareth Owen, Shaun Pick, Martyn Reilly, Max Roberts, Jode Sheriffe, Jack Spencer.