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Naylor keen to strengthen squad

Scott Naylor was keen to strengthen his Oldham squad before Sunday's 16-10 defeat at Whitehaven, so he will be even more determined to recruit after his side failed to grab top spot in Cumbria.

In a 1 v 2 clash, Haven edged it with a winning try by Jordan Burns nine minutes from the end.

The home full-back broke through, scored the try, kicked the goal and then landed a penalty goal to take the game out of Oldham's reach.

Not surprisingly, Naylor wasn't the happiest man in Cumbria on Sunday night.

He said: "We didn't complete enough sets or do the basics right.

"We look unlikely to win the league now, which means we go into the play-offs."

There's still a lot of rugby to be played -- six games for most teams and seven for some -- but there's going to be a mighty scrap to finish top or second, a runners-up spot which provides enormous advantages in the five-club play-off.

Naylor believes he will need at least one more back if he is to finish the job successfully.

He said before the Haven game: "We've been running on a skeleton squad for a while now, but now that we are getting to the business end of the year and collecting a lot of niggling injuries you realise how small the squad is.

"The dual-registration with Leigh and the recent signings we've made  have been important to us but if we can bring in at least one more player we should enter the final run-in with a relatively strong squad that includes a lot of quality.

"I have a good set of lads in the forwards, so I'll be looking to add to the backs. That's where we've been depleted for most of the season.

"The lads who have been playing have been fantastic, but we need some depth. 

"By the time we get to the end of July, you can't sign anyone; bring anybody in on loan and you are limited on dual-reg  so we need to make sure now that we have a settled squad with the right number of lads we need for the final games of the year."

By Roger Halstead

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