North Wales Crusaders head coach Carl Forster said he’s looking for a reaction from his players against Dewsbury this weekend after they suffered an away defeat at the hands of Goole Vikings in the 1895 Cup last time out.
Forster’s side will open their 2025 Betfred League One campaign this Sunday at the FLAIR Stadium where they’ll face newly relegated Dewsbury Rams in round one of the new season.
However, early preparations for the new campaign were dealt a blow last week as Crusaders were handed a cup exit at the hands of fellow League One outfit, Goole Vikings.
Speaking to the media ahead of this week’s fixture, Forster said he’s looking for a reaction from his players: “I think we’re all really disappointed in the manner of our performance against Goole, we let ourselves down and came nowhere near the standards which we set.
“The good thing is that we’ve got another game this weekend where we go back to basics, get the small things right and give a reaction.
“That being said, I do think it’s important not to overreact to one game, the pitch was a bit heavy, we’ve had one or two regular starters missing through injury and Goole have quality players who knew how to play that pitch and take advantage of our mistakes on the day.
“Whilst we’re disappointed, we need to shake that off now and come into Sunday’s game with optimism and our heads up – it’s the start of a new league season, and there’s no room to feel sorry for ourselves.”
Looking ahead to Sunday, Forster added: “I think Dewsbury are going to take everyone by surprise this season, in that they’ve come down from the Championship, retained some key players and added some quality additions too.
“All the talk is around Keighley, then probably other teams getting some attention in the likes of Goole or Workington, but Dewsbury will be happy to be going about their business quietly.
“It was only two years ago that they went unbeaten in League One to win promotion, and that’s no easy achievement, so we’ll go there and won’t underestimate them one bit.”
