HAVEN coaches will look to play the best 17 players available in each upcoming game as the 2021 Betfred Championship enters a vital period.

Batley Bulldogs are the next test for Whitehaven RL at the LEL Arena on Sunday.

It is crunch time in the Betfred Championship and Haven’s assistant coach Jonty Gorley has said that players need to earn their spot in the match squad for crucial upcoming games.

“We had to be careful and pick the matches we thought we were going to win, but now our best 17 that we’ve got for every game will be playing and lads that have niggles and injuries probably won’t be.”

Haven benefitted from the return of fullback Greg McNally against Sheffield Eagles on May 30 in a 25-25 draw.

Gorley said: “Someone with Greg’s experience, we missed him when he didn’t play. He only played the first game against Dewsbury. Greg is very good at organising our defence.

“We’ve got the likes of Marc Shackley, Callum Phillips, Dion Aiye and Greg McNally missing – they were pivotal games, and with those lads we would have maybe got it over the line.”

Haven will look to bring their A-game against Batley Bulldogs on Sunday.

Gorley said: “Batley, they’re a good championship side. When you go to Batley you know what you’re up against.

“We need to be 100 per cent, we need to be at the top of our game and do the little things right.”

He added that Haven can compete with the best championship clubs when they play at their best.

“When we did that at Sheffield we went in at half time, we had 19 sets a piece and we were winning.”

Coaches want to see a cohesive and switched-on side against Batley.

“We need 80 minutes’ performance every week," said Gorley.