Preview: Widnes Vikings vs Barrow Raiders

Barrow Raiders are on the road this Saturday, as they make the trip to Cheshire to face Widnes Vikings in Round 20 of the Betfred Championship.

The Raiders saw their six-game winning streak come to an end last weekend at the hands of division heavyweights Newcastle Thunder, losing 30-6 at the Speed Competitions Stadium despite going toe-to-toe with the north-east outfit for large parts of the match.

This weekend, Paul Crarey’s side faces another tough challenge in the form of Widnes Vikings. Allan Coleman’s men sit two points below Barrow in the table, and they are fresh from a club record-breaking 116-6 victory over North Wales Crusaders most recently.

Barrow will be keen to bounce back from their defeat to Newcastle by completing a league double over Widnes for the first time since 2022, following their 18-8 win over this weekend’s opponents on home soil in April.

Below, we’ve compiled everything you need to know ahead of the fixture.

Paul Crarey preview

Head coach Paul Crarey looks ahead to tomorrow’s trip to Widnes.

Squad news

The 21-man squad has been named ahead of Saturday’s fixture away at Widnes Vikings.

There are four changes from last weekend’s defeat to Newcastle Thunder. Ellis Archer returns, alongside Josh Wood and Jarrad Stack.

Ellis Gillam goes straight into contention to make his second debut after returning to the club on a season-long loan from Super League outfit Toulouse Olympique earlier this week.

They replace Andrew Bulman, Matt Costello and Tom Forber.