Nottingham v Doncaster Knights: Every game is like a cup game now, says Richard List

Both Doncaster Knights and Nottingham will be looking to get back to winning ways when they meet in a vital Championship clash at Lady Bay tonight.
Richard ListRichard List
Richard List

Knights lost at home to Ealing Trailfinders last time out and the Green and Whites were routed by unbeaten leaders London Irish.

“It was a big blow losing against Ealing because we’d have been going into the game 11 points clear in third place, as against just four, had we not conceded a late try,” said prop Richard List

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“We know it’s going to be tough to hang on to third spot as there are no easy games in the Championship these days.”

Thorne born List expects the current top-four to be contesting the play-offs and says Ealing will pose problems for whoever they meet.

“Ealing are a good team and they’ve recruited well and added to what was already a strong squad by signing several players in recent weeks,” he said.

“They forced us into making mistakes and that’s what cost us the game but they were beatable.

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“It was disappointing to lose at home after playing so well at Bedford but there wasn’t any complacency in the camp and we’d trained hard all week to put things in place which we thought would see us beat them.

“On the day we made too many mistakes especially in key areas.

“We were behind for most of the game but we got ourselves into a match-winning position but we couldn’t exit it.

“It didn’t help that we gave away so many penalties in the first half because that meant we were on the back foot for long periods and that’s something we’ve got to guard against in our remaining games.”

List says the defeat still hurts.

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“After defending so well throughout the game we viewed their winning touchdown as a soft try,” he said.

Looking ahead to tomorrow’s game, List said: “It will be another tough one. We’ve analysed them over the last ten days or so, so we know what to expect and we’ll be looking to play our game and try and break them down.

“It’s sort of a local derby and they’ve always been there or thereabouts in recent years and they are generally pretty strong at home.

“As I say, we are expecting a tough game but every game is going to be like a cup game now for us until the end of the season.

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“We picked up a couple of bad injuries against Ealing so we’ll be hoping to stay mainly injury free during the run-in.

“We don’t have the biggest of squads but it’s a tight-knit group.

“There’s a good team spirit as was evident when we got back into the game against Ealing.”