Featherstone Rovers head coach James Ford off to flying start - but he believes team can get even better

​Rovers’ dominant 38-10 victory away to a Sheffield Eagles side that started the game in third place in the Betfred Championship showed what the runway leaders are capable of after a stumble in their last outing at Halifax.

But while he was obviously delighted with such a convincing win in his first game in charge Ford still sees more improvement ahead in the team.

He said: “We are going in the right direction.

"There were parts of the performance that were clear improvement on what we’ve served up recently and there were some parts we need to keep focused on.

"I congratulated the boys because Sheffield are a good team, especially at their place, so to win 38-10 away at Sheffield – only the second team to beat them (at their home ground) – we should be really proud.

"I think the thing that pleases me the most is that there is another two or three levels in us. We’re still looking t getting better individually and collectively.”

Ford reckons Featherstone have the best squad they have had in recent years and praised the work done by his predecessor, Sean Long.

He added: ”Everybody at the club and in and around the cub has a great affinity for Sean and there are some very positive relationships that he’s built.

“I think I can speak for everybody by saying that we wish him all the best at Wakefield.

“My role now is to work with this really talented bunch of players. We have probably the best Featherstone squad that the club has had and they are doing a lot of things right.

“There are one or two areas to fine-tune and it is my job to find those areas and help this club get promoted."

Rovers are back at home this Sunday when they take on relegation battlers Keighley Cougars who surprised Featherstone’s likely play-off rivals Batley Bulldogs in beating them 26-20 last weekend. Kick-off at the Millennium Stadium is 3pm.