ILKLEY face a tough test as they look to halt their run of four North Premier League defeats.

Unbeaten leaders Preston Grasshoppers are the visitors to Stacks Field on Saturday as the Dalesmen play their first home game since losing 27-24 to Rossendale on September 30.

Losses at Sandal 37-14, Pocklington 22-20 and Wirral 18-15 have seen Ilkley slip back from second to eighth in the table.

But head of rugby Rhys Morgan isn’t pressing the panic button, far from it.

He remains upbeat and is backing his players to turn things around.

Injuries continue to disrupt his plans with forward Martyn Mitchell dislocating a shoulder at Lymm last week to join a lengthy list of absentees.

Ilkley are also set to be without young flanker Joe Lowes who was sent off at Lymm for an alleged head butt.

He will appear before a disciplinary panel next week. “We are trying to get a video of the incident,” said Morgan.

“It looked to me as if their player might have dived, but I need to see the incident again.”

Defeat at Lymm was particularly cruel on Ilkley as they battled hard with 14 men for 66 minutes before losing to a last-minute penalty.

“I was proud of my players,” said Morgan. “It was a tough blow to lose the way we did, but we have to take it on the chin.

“Things haven’t quite gone our way in the last couple of games, but the spirit in the squad is great and I cannot question the commitment of the players.”

Morgan had to wrestle with a couple of tough selection issues last week.

He recalled scrum half Jack Maplesden at the expense of his youngest son Blake, and he opted to allow Ben Magee to continue as goal kicker despite the return to the side of his middle son Charles.

“Blake has done really well for us, but Maplesden is a more experienced player and I felt it was right for the team,” said Morgan.

“I also felt that Magee was kicking well and with Charles returning after concussion I thought he would be under less pressure if he didn’t kick.”