ILKLEY head of rugby, Rhys Morgan admits his side will not be favourites going into Saturday's clash with second place Blaydon but believes they will give it their best effort to try salvage a result.

The Dalesmen are at the foot of the Northern Premier table, after only winning one of their eight fixtures played, while their opponents find themselves on 37 points, having only lost one out of five at home.

It is set to be a decisive period for the Stacks Field side with a couple of crucial home games against fellow struggler Morpeth and Rossendale, set to follow their trip up north.

Morgan knows many won't fancy his team for the victory but is hopeful his returning stars can make any impact.

He said: "We are not going to be favourites at Blaydon but we’ll give it our best shot.

I felt the Lymm game, we could have turned a corner and charged up the table. It is points loss which is frustrating.

After this weekend, we have two home games coming up, if we can pick up eight points from those games, we’ll be right back in it.

We have got the likes of Luke Pearson, Stuard O’connor and Eddie King coming back which is a big boost.

Ilkley nearly put their second win on the board last weekend in that match against Lymm, taking a 8-6 lead into half time before falling apart after the break to eventually lose 30-15.

Morgan thinks his men are masters of their own downfall after failing to capitalise on their early pressure but is proud of the squad's togetherness.

He said: "We made a lot of errors and missed three opportunities to score tries in the first half.

"We left 15-20 points out on the park and were controlling Lymm in the scrum. It should have been a comfortable win.

"Second half came, we had injuries, then conceded a penalty and went behind.

"We then conceded a try and we are chasing the game, giving them the belief that they could do it.

"Unfortunately we then lost our self belief and lost our way.

"We scored a late try but it was just frustrating because it was a winnable game.

"When your not winning games, it just doesn't go your way.

"It is important that the boys stick together and keep some self belief."