RHYS Morgan was “devastated” by Ilkley’s 22-20 defeat at the hands of North Premier League strugglers Pocklington.

The head of rugby is now seeking a big improvement for Saturday’s tough trip to Wirral.

“We just didn’t turn up,” Morgan said. “It was a poor performance and not what I expected.

“We lost too much ball in contact, we were tactically poor, we chose poor options and didn’t play in the right areas.”

Ilkley have now lost their last three league games which has tarnished the bright start they made in the first month of the season.

“We have had injuries and had players like Ollie Holtman, Dan Lawrence, JH Johnson, Will Davies and Charles Morgan missing, but that is no excuse,” said Morgan.

“We know we can do better and we have to get back to winning ways.

“If we want to challenge at the top end of the table we need to set our standards high.

“Two of our losses, against Sandal and Pocklington, have come against teams who had not won before they played us.

“There are lessons to learn and we have to put in the hard work to get back to the way we were playing at the start of the season.

“We all need to dig in to turn things around. It means hard work on the training field as well as in games.

“I know we can do better and it is important we get our game together as we have a run of tough matches coming up against sides challenging at the top of the league.

“This is the time for the players to show what they can do. I know what they are capable of and want them to produce it.”

Ilkley now have scrum half Jack Maplesden available for the first time this season while prop Holtman is back along with stand off Charles Morgan who has recovered from concussion.

Ilkley are also hopeful that young flanker Joe Lowes will be fit to face Wirral, but number eight JH Johnson is still not fit enough to return