Bastley Bulldogs v Dewsbury Rams: Derby day has more than usual riding on it
Hosts Batley Bulldogs are 10th in the Betfred Championship, one place and a single point ahead of neighbours Dewsbury Rams.
“Given the league positions, this one has one has a bit more significance than normal,” Bulldogs boss Matt Diskin admitted.
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Hide Ad“I wouldn’t say we are safe [from relegation] at the moment.
“There is a bit of pressure, particularly on myself.
“As coach you are judged on performances and we’ve not quite had those.
“We have got to come up with a big performance to put some uncertainty to bed.”
Diskin felt last week’s win at Rochdale “got a bit of a monkey off our back”.
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Hide AdHe added: “We were a lot better in that game, we had a low error rate and we played some good rugby.
“We are going into it [tomorrow] quite confident, but we know Dewsbury will be as well after their recent performances.”
Rams coach Lee Greenwood has a similar view to Diskin.
“Whoever wins on Sunday will definitely be safe,” Greenwood said.
“That would give us a relaxing few weeks, from our point of view, if we were to win.
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Hide Ad“I don’t know if Batley would be relaxed, they are obviously disappointed with where they are.
“They expected to be higher, but I expected to be where we are this season.
“We lost quite a few of our starting players last year and were late trying to replace them – and probably haven’t replaced them all.