Sean Long issues rallying call as Featherstone Rovers look to return to winning ways at Swinton Lions

Fev suffered a surprising 18-22 loss at the hands of Halifax Panthers to disappointingly exit rugby’s most famous knockout competition in the third round last Sunday.

It was the first time Long’s men have tasted a competitive defeat this season following five victories out of five in the Championship.

But a return to league action this weekend - an away trip to newly-promoted Swinton, kick off 3pm on Sunday, March 19 - gives Rovers the ideal chance to return to winning ways.

Long said: “We have got to stick together as a team and hopefully we can fix it against Swinton. It was gutting to go out of the Challenge Cup but the thing with rugby is you can try and change it seven days later.

“Obviously we have had a harsh video session this week. We have got to learn from how we played against Halifax, dust ourselves down and have a tough week’s training.

“The weather was hit and miss last week so we weren’t able to get out onto the field that much, but we’ve been out on the field this week, getting ourselves ready and firing for Swinton.”

Asked if he has had the chance to look and analyse Sunday’s opposition, who gained promotion via the League 1 play-offs, beating Doncaster 16-10 in the final last October, Long replied:

“I don’t really focus on the opposition too much unless we’re playing someone who we have played before.

“We like to focus on ourselves so we will be focusing on rectifying the mistakes we made against Halifax - defensively and offensively - and I feel that if we can get those right then we will be okay.”