Workington Town will have to take to the field against Hunslet without their talismanic skipper Ollie Wilkes.

The Town prop injured his hamstring during last weekend’s loss to Coventry Bears and coach Chris Thorman says they miss his experience.

“Interchanges to me are significant, especially for your middles, and it is going to be challenging this week with Wilkes out injured,” said Thorman.

“He injured his hamstring last week and it looks like he will be out for a few weeks, which will have a big impact in the middles. But we are not making excuses.

“Ollie has not changed a great deal from when I knew him as a teenager, just more street smart and savvy in terms of his understanding of the game.

“But he brings a wealth of experience and is a great talker so he will be a big miss. I am looking to some of the other more senior players to step up to the plate in his absence.”

Thorman is looking forward to his first home game in charge and he is hoping to deliver a win in front of the Derwent Park crowd on Sunday, ko 3pm.

“I have had loads of messages of support on social media and I am looking forward to the game,” said Thorman.

“But I am very conscious that we need to do a good job and get 17 on the park and perform significantly better than we did against Coventry.”

One boost for Thorman was the return of Ryan Fieldhouse last weekend, after a long spell out through injury and the Town boss was impressed with what he saw.

He added: “Ryan was good.That was the first time I had seen him play and he had some urgency about him.

“Some of the bits we had practised offensively looked good and when we had field position he was one of the main benefactors.”

Thorman added that Fieldhouse would probably retain his place for Sunday’s clash with Carl Forber also likely to return to the starting line-up, after serving his one-match ban.