North Wales Crusaders Head Coach Carl Forster has said that his focus ahead of Sunday’s Betfred League One clash away to Goole Vikings is fully on his own side.
Forster’s Crusaders side have had a three week break since their last action where they opened their league season with a 20-10 victory over Dewsbury Rams, and, having suffered defeat to Goole last month in the 1895 Cup, Sunday provides an opportunity to put things right.
Speaking to the media, Forster said: “I don’t think it’s so much about revenge or anything like that, but more a focus on ourselves.
“When we played at Goole in the cup last month, I think all the lads would tell you that we were way off the standards which we’ve set ourselves, and so our motivation going into this weekend is focused on showing just what we can do.
“The schedule hasn’t been great, we’ve got into a rhythm with the cup games, started our league campaign and then had a three week break where we’ve had to enter into a sort of mini pre-season, but it’s also allowed us time to bond and add a few new faces to the group.
“We’ve got our two points on the board at Dewsbury last time out and now we’ve got two really tough away games in Goole and Workington back-to-back, it’s not an easy task, but it’s a challenge which we’re all looking forward to.”
The break in fixtures saw Forster’s side climb Snowdon raising money for club partner’s, Welsh Mountain Zoo, an activity which he believes has proved good for his side: “It was a great day [climbing Snowdon], the lads did really well, we are a very close group anyway, but I think that trip only enhanced our relationships with each other and it will prove to be a really useful experience as we get into the season now.”
Looking ahead to Sunday’s opponents, Goole Vikings, Forster added: “We’ve seen what Goole are about, and everyone is starting to get an understanding of them and how they play now.
“They’ve got some very experienced players within their group, lads who have played at the highest level.
“They won’t give us much room to play, and are always looking to use their experience to win the smaller battles on the day, so we need to be smart to that.
“We’ll go there on Sunday and show them the upmost respect, but we’ll also be putting things in place to look to play to our strengths and come away with the two points.”