Workington Town head coach Phil Veivers says that yesterday’s 10-10 draw with Barrow Raiders served its purpose as part of his side’s preparation for the 2016 Championship season.

Town led 10-4 for the majority of the game but a late try from Brad Marwood helped the Raiders draw level as they shared the spoils in snowy conditions at Craven Park.

“The game served its purpose,” Veivers said. “I wanted my players to have a hit out and that’s what it was.

“Physically we were pretty good, we only gifted them a few soft tries.”

Both teams were guilty of making a number of handling errors during the game and Veivers said that the conditions played their part.

“I’m quietly happy with how we defended but in the second half we had a period of around 20 minutes when we didn’t see the ball, and when we did we coughed it up.

“The players are paid to hold the ball and when you’re coming out of your half you need to hold it.

“You can’t take away from the conditions but you have to play keep-ball and we didn’t do that.

“If you take out the lost balls and the few missed tackles, I’m pretty happy with how we defended and with how they all went.

“This is only part of pre-season training. The fun hasn’t started yet.”

Town may be without Sam Forrester and Liam McAvoy for this weekend’s derby against Whitehaven but they will welcome back half-back Jamie Doran.

“Sam rolled his ankle and Liam had a slight pull in his calf,” Veivers added. “We took a few injuries as the game progressed and had players out of position. We played the last eight with 12 men too.

“We’ll rehab and review this week. We’ll have Jamie back, so that’s one in and maybe two out.”