Hornets glad to be home
ROCHDALE Hornets head coach Alan Kilshaw hopes being back at home can inspire his side to put in a good performance and pick up a win against Toulouse Olympique this weekend.
Hornets have a difficult match when they welcome the French side to the Crown Oil Arena on Sunday.
Kilshaw’s side head into the match after a frustrating run of form, but that has also coincided with the team having a number of away games in that time.
They now head back home for this weekend’s match, and Kilshaw wants that to make a difference to the team’s performance.
“It’s been a while since we’ve played at home and we’ve had a tough run in that time, so it will be good to get back at home and put in a performance in front of our own supporters,” he said.
“We know that with this team we are capable of pulling off a win. It’s important we have a good week and put in a performance, that will be the focus.
“We have to be tougher mentally when things go against us. We can’t lie on the floor, we have to get back in line and can’t feel sorry for ourselves.
“We’ve had a tough few weeks in terms of pressure games with the Bash, a couple of games against Swinton and Barrow away, so it was a down week heading into the London game.
“Toulouse are coming off the back of a disappointing defeat, so who knows what sort of mindset they’ll come with.”
Rochdale’s last match saw them suffer an emphatic defeat, after losing 68-0 away from home against London Broncos last weekend.
Kilshaw was frustrated with his side’s efforts in that game, and hopes that they can learn from their mistakes.
“There were periods in the second half where I thought we defended the line well, but we switch off,” he said.
“We do some dumb things and don’t help ourselves at times, but there were some individuals who can hold their head high.
“Ben Pomeroy played
‘We have to be tougher mentally when things go against us’
well after having his first run out for a few weeks, and Declan Kay is good every week, but there were too many of them that were off it last week.
“We can point to some things, such as it not being ideal leaving at 7.30am for a game and travelling, but it’s not just us that has to do that.
“The preperation wasn’t great but some things are inexcusable.”
Hornets currently sit bottom of the Betfred Championship table having lost 14 of their 17 games so far this season, while this weekend’s opponents Toulouse are in second place, with 12 wins and five defeats.