We won 28-26 in the Challenge cup. I wonder which team may have improved most since then?

Oldham have beaten Skolars, N Wales and Rochdale in the league.

It'll be disappointing if we don't win but I suspect it won't be easy.

Looking forward to it...

[urlhttps://www.doncasterrugbyleague.co.uk/article/1403/match-preview-|-dons-v-oldham[/url

Watched their highlights of the demolition job they did on Rochdale, it was impressive. They have pace and like to play wide. They are welcoming back at least 3 who didn't play in the cup tie and then there is the unknown factor of the dual reg with Wigan and their players. If we come out of this encounter with a win we will do well IMO.

Its an early battle for the second place slot.

I seem to recall their fans thinking they'd get a drubbing in the cup match due to having players out.

If they are a few steps ahead of that now, then we could be in for a tough game.

I agree, Wilf, this could be part one of the tussle for second place.

Both teams had a number of key players missing last time so I am not taking a lot from that, this is a big game though

Oh heck, the Wigan influence....

From the Oldham website:

FORMER Super League winner Iain Thornley is in Stuart Littler’s 21-man squad to face Doncaster this Sunday at the Eco Power Stadium, 3pm kick off.

The 31-year-old centre arrives at Oldham on dual-registration from Warriors as Logan Astley, Jacob Douglas, Alex Sutton and Harvey Wilson all depart the squad this week.

Thornley was part of the Wigan 13 that defeated Huddersfield 16-14 to win the Challenge Cup last year.

He has huge swathes of experience having won the Super League and Challenge Cup double with Wigan in 2013 and made over 100 top flight appearances playing for clubs such as Catalans Dragons, Hull KR, Salford and Leigh.

Head coach Littler is also boosted by the return of Gregg McNally who is back in the squad after missing out the 56-16 win over Rochdale last Sunday.

Prop Bob Morgan is included in the squad for the first time since signing from Almondbury Spartans on amateur forms last month and Sam Bardsley is also included.

Said Littler:

“We’ve got some big players back playing with us and we’re in a stronger position since the last time we played them in the Challenge Cup.

“It’s unbeaten against unbeaten, so someone will have to forfeit their 100% record and we’re excited for the challenge on Sunday.”

Highlights of the Oldham v Rochdale game:

[urlhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6cA07GQJ4w[/url

I'd like to think our defence will be a bit more resiliant but they're likely to pose some serious questions.

Patrick Ah Van seems to play the first half on the wing these days and then move into the middle. He did that in the cup match against us.

Thinking about it... our forwards have got to get on top. If we allow them to get quick play-the-balls, they'll open us up out wide. Our forwards have looked more resilient this year than last so it'll be a good test of quite how good we are.

Squad for Sunday:

[urlhttps://www.doncasterrugbyleague.co.uk/article/1406/news-|-squad-named-for-oldham-clash-[/url

Travis Corion is missing.

Travis is on a concussion break

Is that like a City break but you get to see two of everything.

The new Keighley, influx of new money, plenty of optimism around and the fans that thought they would struggle now going for the promotion vibe. Good luck to them.

Bet365 ...

Dons -6 10/11
Oldham +6 10/11
Handicap Draw 16/1

Skybet ...

Dons -4 10/11
Oldham +4 10/11
Handicap Draw 16/1

Has any Wanderer money been invested?

Based on the above the bookies seem to think both teams are of equal standing - just the home advantage of 4 points making the difference.

This is probably a vital game because should Oldham win, we'd probably have to win at their place to get back on a level footing with them. If we can win, the pressure will shift the other way.

I really don't know which way today will go...

A tough game to call.

Bet365 are also offering a 2-Way Betting market (ruling out a Handicap Draw) with the Handicap being Oldham +6.5. Purely from a punting point of view, that looks to be where the value is.

HT Dons 16 Oldham 4

FT Dons 26 Oldham 22

Good win is that, well done lads but reading the various bits and bobs we have some improvement in us, does anyone agree with that?

Best 40 mins I have seen this season .
A good all round display .
Holdstocks kick cross field was the highlight for me .

The forwards were very good and laid the platform. We defended well for the most part but we look vulnerable when the opponents are able to play the ball more quickly. Our discipline was good and our error rate low.

Connor Robinson's kicking game really penned Oldham back, making them regularly start from near their line. If we'd not done that, we'd have been under even more pressure than we were.

Had Iain Thornley not dropped the ball as he tried to ground it just before half-time, things could have been even more tense.

It was a very enjoyable game to watch between two evenly matched teams. I believe the crowd was over 1300.

We could have done without Workington coming back to win 29-28 at Rochdale.

Do we have more improvement in us? I'm not sure. I think we probably played at or near to to our maximum potential today. We'll remain vulnerable to teams with a bit of size and pace, or when teams get quick play-the balls. The players seem like a good bunch who want to give everything and play for each other and that counts for a lot.

Thanks DM for your thoughts. We can only hope that we can just keep on winning.

Happy to get the win. I thought that was probably the best 60 minutes we have played this season, looked very comfortable at 26-10 up. Then around the 60 minute mark, looked along the line and there were quite a few players who seemed to be blowing very hard, and we went into a very scrappy last 20minutes, falling off tackles, conceding tries and being quite disjointed. I think you can definitely say we were saved by the bell when the hooter sounded before Oldham could start their last play the ball 5m out!

Halliday...I believe ...let the ball bounce from a restart and they scored.
They weren't in the game and then they were...
We were holding on from a very comfortable position at 26-4.
Dead lucky after such a good display.
But we won, so everything is wonderful.

I thought at times in the first half we looked unplayable , the support play and ball control was the best I have seem this year by far.
Dogged in defence, our pack dominated Oldham with Ferres and Tali outstanding on our left edge.

I thought our forwards overall were outstanding , with the exception of Roberts ,who looked tired when introduced after the break..

Discipline was very good , however, a few poor decisions helped get Oldham back into the contest.

As the game progressed into the latter stages we struggled to slow down the ruck speed as Oldham capitalised on our flagging defence.

Very happy with the win and the performance overall ,but we need to be smarter when it comes to closing games out.

As daft as it seems a ten minute implosion almost cost us a fantastic victory.

Unplayable, fantastic and outstanding? We were good in the first 40 but those are strong words.