Featherstone Rovers coach James Ford insists he has plenty to build on

​Ford was proud of the efforts put in by his players in the 20-12 defeat to the title favourites in front of a big crowd at the Millennium Stadium.

They were twice down to 12 men following sin-binnings, but pushed Trinity all the way to the final hooter, with the visitors grateful to a late Lachlan Walmsley try as they went home with a hard fought two points.

“Congratulations to Wakefield, on the day they shaded us,” said head coach Ford.

"There’s certainly no excuses from us. As regards my team and performance I can’t fault their effort, I thought it was outstanding.

“To play the game when you are down to 12 men for 20 minutes and spill the ball over the line to only lose by eight was very commendable.

"There’s certainly a real strong foundation for us to continue building on.”

Ford is putting thoughts towards another big game at the Millennium Stadium this Sunday with another of their West Yorkshire rivals in town.

If Rovers are to have aspirations of challenging Wakefield for the title they know they need to be beating teams like the Bradford Bulls who make the journey south this weekend.

The Bulls were expected to be one of the title bidders this year after some good recruitment, but have been inconsistent so far, losing their opening league game comfortably against Trinity before showing signs of improvement in a 29-10 win over Halifax Panthers over Easter.

With only a narrow win at Batley then the defeat to Wakefield there is some improvement also needed from Fev and they will be looking to recent recruit Paul Turner to step up against Bradford.

After making his home debut against Trinity, he said: “It’s been pretty different, but I’m really enjoying it so far.

"I’ve still got to improve in a lot of things, especially the fitness and stuff like that.

"It was my first game back in a while and hopefully through the games I’ll get back to normal.”