Barrow Raiders half-back Brad Walker believes that the closely-fought nature of the Betfred Championship this season means the club can still have ambitions of making the top six.
A 36-0 loss at the hands of unbeaten league leaders Wakefield Trinity last weekend saw the Raiders drop to 12th in the table.
However, they remain only two points behind sixth-placed Featherstone Rovers, with eight teams currently separated by just four points.
A positive result against Wakefield was always going to be difficult to obtain, but Walker believes that their first-half performance was a positive one – a sentiment echoed by head coach Paul Crarey in his post-match comments.
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He also feels that the key to success in an attacking sense will come as his partnership with Ryan Johnston continues to grow.
Walker said: “Wakefield have got a good squad and haven’t lost a game yet so we always knew it would be a tough challenge, but we went in at half-time 16 points down and were still in with a chance.
“We came out in the second half, gave them too much field position and they showed their class. Unfortunately we weren’t able to capitalise on the chances we had in the first half, and that’s probably on me and Ryan.
“Our job is to lead the team around the field and capitalise on any mistakes if they come. Our focus right now is being consistent as half-backs, and taking each week and game as it comes.”
Paul Crarey’s side now embark on an important run of fixtures, taking on three other sides battling for the top six over the next four weeks.
That all starts with a trip to the LNER Stadium to take on York Knights this Sunday, as part of a men’s and women’s double-header between the two clubs.
The Raiders came out 15-14 victors in the reverse fixture at the Northern Competitions Stadium thanks to a late drop-goal from Walker, but with the hosts coming into form by winning four out of their last six games, both sides will have their eyes on two competition points.
While acknowledging that this Sunday’s clash will be tough, Walker feels the Raiders are ready to push on after picking up their first away league win at Swinton two weeks ago.
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“York away is a massive game for us, and we’re going there to get the job done,” he said.
“These next four matches are so important. If we can get three or four wins, then we’re right up there.
“People look at where we are in the league table and think we’re not doing good, but personally I don’t think we’re doing bad at all.
“We know we’ve got the quality and we have faith that we can be a top six team. We just need to keep knocking wins off and taking things one game at a time.”
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