​Dons ‘can’t take their foot off the pedal’ for Whitehaven clash

“In recent weeks it has been a balance between looking up the table towards the play-offs or looking over our shoulders at those clubs behind us in a battle to keep out of the bottom three,” said Horne, whose side occupy seventh spot just one point adrift of Featherstone Rovers who currently hold down the final play-off position.

“But if we go up to Whitehaven with the same attitude as we showed when beating (second-placed) Toulouse on Saturday night we’ll get the job done and we can focus on going forward and the play-offs become more of a possibility with just six games remaining.

“But we can’t afford to go up there with the wrong attitude (despite the fact that they were well beaten by Bradford on Sunday) because as we saw when we played them at home earlier in the season, they are a big side who can cause you problems near the line. We are certainly under no illusions that we can afford to take our foot off the pedal.

“We haven’t always got our game management right at times but we did against Toulouse and we know what sort of side we are when we do get things right and that we can go to-to-toe with all the top teams.”

Horne says the longer the season goes on the more respect the Dons are getting from rival Championship clubs.

“Everyone we speak to after games say that we are a very physical side and their players know that they have been in a game,” said the former Hull FC ace.

The Cumbrians dropped to second bottom following the defeat at Odsal, and recently went public on their financial problems – not helped by a lack of home games in the last month or so - and have appealed to local businesses to try and help out and for the town’s rugby supporters to turn out in force in Sunday’s fixture.

The Dons will again lack in-form prop Suaia Matagi, who will be completing a two-match ban.

Horne admitted that he feared the side might miss Matagi, arguably the pick of the club’s close-season signings along with winger Luke Briscoe and prop/second-rower Pauli Pauli, against Toulouse, but said that other players raised their game to help compensate for his absence.