Barrow Raiders half-back Ryan Johnston insists the squad are determined to end their four-game winless run at Hunslet this weekend.

The Raiders travel to the South Leeds Stadium on Sunday, reeling from a disappointing 28-22 home defeat to Sheffield Eagles.

A late fightback wasn’t enough to prevent Paul Crarey’s side from succumbing to a loss in Round 13, but with a trip to basement side Hunslet next on the agenda, Johnston has urged his team-mates to put in the hard yards heading into Sunday.

He said: “We need to knuckle down now. I want to apologise to the supporters who paid good money to watch us last weekend.

“There’s no-one as gutted as us lads [about that performance]. We probably did everything wrong in a rugby game, within the first 40 minutes, that we possibly could, but we were only 10 points down at half-time.

“We were still in the game and believed we could win, but in the end we gave ourselves too much of a mountain to climb.

“We need to work hard, and it’s down to every single one of us in that dressing room to put things right. We’ve got to look ourselves in the mirror and ask, ‘are we doing what we’re being told?’.

“We need to turn up to training with the right attitude. If we have to stay there later, then so be it. It’s all about doing whatever it takes now to get the wins and keep this club up there in the top six.”

Despite their recent run of results, the Raiders remain well-placed in the table at the midway stage of the Betfred Championship season.

They are just three points adrift of third-placed York Knights, and Johnston has called for calm heads as the Raiders look to reach the play-offs for the first time since the 2022 season.

“It’s not panic stations,” the half-back added.

“We’re sixth, we’ve got plenty of games ahead and we’ve got a good squad, but we really need to knuckle down and put some performances in for the supporters.

“If someone had given this position to us at the start of the year, we would’ve definitely taken it. The fact that we’re gutted with how things have gone recently shows just how far we’ve come.

“We need to channel the disappointment of the last few games in order to stay hungry. I think we’ve got a great chance of making the play-offs and causing some upsets.”

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