HIGHLY promising Conner Holliday has been named in the Whitehaven squad for tomorrow’s Championship game at Featherstone.

The former Kells amateur came off in the 12-12 draw after he suffered a knock but has declared himself fit to resume at Post Office Road.

It paves the way for coach James Coyle to name an unchanged 17 for the first time this season after announcing himself well pleased with the intensity of the effort.

Jessie Joe Parker, who had an ankle problem, is also in the 19-strong along with Ben Davies after neither featured at the Recreation Ground last Saturday.

Meanwhile Featherstone coach Jon Sharp has described Sunday’s game against the Cumbrians as “absolutely crucial” in his side’s bid for a Championship top-four place.

Rovers slipped to sixth place in midweek as a result of Bradford Bulls’ win at Oldham on Wednesday night, a result which kept the losers below Whitehaven and in the relegation zone. .

Rovers won 44-22 at Whitehaven last month but the Cumbrians pulled off a shock 29-0 win at Big Fellas Stadium last season.

“I think Whitehaven have got a few extra blokes in there since we last played them,” added Sharp. “We always treat Whitehaven with respect because we think they are a really good team who are well coached. James Coyle has done a good job with them.

“They played really well last weekend against Halifax who just managed to scrape a draw. We’ll have to be on our mettle this Sunday. It’s an absolutely crucial game for us.

“We’ve just got to stay healthy and stay focused. We need to keep calm as well - I think that’s really important.

“We don’t want to spend too much time looking at the league table and thinking about what other teams are doing. I think it’s really important we concentrate on our own job.”

Featherstone go into the game on the back of a 16-12 defeat at Ligh, a performance which still delighted Sharp.

He said: “There were maybe two or three errors that proved costly to us and that’s how tight it was. It was a really good match. It was probably the closest we’ve seen to a Super League game for intensity and speed.

“We were unfortunate not to come away with something but the signs are really encouraging.”

Whitehaven from: Jouffret, Chamberlain, Calvert, Parker, Perez, Aiye, Coyle, Duffy, Newton, Carberry, Allen, Davies, Riley, Walker, Brocklebank, Ince, Fox, Holliday, T Chapelhow.

Featherstone from: Ellis, Duckworth, Cording, Foster, Ormondroyd, Snitch, Channing, Griffin, Briggs, Craven, Ward, Tagg, Bostock, Cooper, Roche, Lilley, Baldwinson, Joynt, Spears.