Workington Town chairman Les Smallwood said it was encouraging to see how the team responded to stand-in coach Ollie Wilkes last weekend.

Although Town lost out at Keighley Cougars, it was a narrow defeat, and Smallwood said it boded well to see how the team upped their game in response to calls from Wilkes, who took temporary charge with the coaching team after the departure of Leon Pryce.

“We did lose in the last five minutes but it was brilliant to watch the effort that the lads put in for Ollie,” said Smallwood. “I thought he played really well on the day too. At the end of the day we got back on level terms and then went in front and ultimately we did bomb some chances in the first half, maybe through over eagerness.

“We were sometimes going sideways instead of forwards but we were more direct in the second half and it paid off. The two sin binnings took a bit out of us and then Keighley caught us in the last five minutes.”

This weekend Town turn their attentions to the new 1895 Cup and a trip to Hunslet. The only two former Wembley winners in this weekend’s first round ties, Hunslet and Workington, will meet at the South Leeds Stadium on Saturday afternoon (ko 3pm) in a tie being streamed live by the RFL’s Our League membership app, and also by the Twitch streaming platform.