Upbeat Underbank coach Richard Knight knows if his side plays to their full potential they can make it three National Conference League Second Division triumphs on the trot at Millom tomorrow.
Rangers recovered from their opening-day defeat at home to Leigh East with impressive victories over Blackbrook and Stanley Rangers.
This weekend’s Cumbrian challenge has been made tougher with injuries to experienced quartet Niall Barrett (back), Andy Boothroyd (shoulder), Michael Lang (knee) and Sam Hendrick (knee).
But with new Australian contingent Chris Druett, Joel Croker, Kurt Selmes and Mitch Turner making immediate positive impressions, Knight is confident he has the squad more than capable of returning home with two more League points against Millom side who have won their opening two fixtures.
“The way everyone has responded to our opening-day defeat has been fantastic,” said Knight, who will give run-outs to Easter Monday’s Holliday Cup final man-of-the-match Luke Pogson and Underbank junior product William England.
“We did well to win at Blackbrook and then built on that with an even better victory over Stanley Rangers the following week.
“We know we’ve still got a lot of work to do to get to where we want to be. Our initial contact is still pretty poor, while our push and edge defence also needs to get better.
“But now we’re able to spend more time out on the field, we can work on improving those areas and become an even more competitive team.
“Those areas will need to have improved this to face Millom, because they’ve started their season strongly with two good wins.
“But I know if we play anywhere near our potential we can get our third win.”
And Knights wouldn’t be surprised if a victory charge was led by his four Australians.
“They’ve settled in extremely well and are already proving very useful additions,” added the head coach, who has praised the work being put in by his assistant and former Giants Super League full-back Paul Reilly.
“Croker and Druett were our top performers against Stanley, while Selmes and Turner were probably our best players in the opening two games.
“Australian signings sometimes struggle to settle in when they first get here, but these four have found it no trouble at all. They’ve been great.”
