Championship team news: Hunslet Hawks, Dewsbury Rams, Doncaster, York City Knights, Featherstone, Keighley Cougars, Sheffield Eagles,

It's a busy weekend of action in the Co-Operative Championship and Championship One. Here the Yorkshire Post goes around the games to get the latest news.

FRIDAY 12 MARCH

CO-OPERATIVE CHAMPIONSHIP ONE

HUNSLET HAWKS v OLDHAM – 8pm

Waine Pryce will make his Hunslet debut when title-chasing Hawks host last year Grand Finalists Oldham.

Hunslet coach Paul March said: "With players of Waine's capabilities, you've got to put them in and let them show what they can do. I'm looking forward to him hopefully having a good debut and making a real impact for us."

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March also confirmed that he now has a fully fit squad to choose from. Richard Knight came through last week's Carnegie Challenge Cup tie unscathed while Nico Slain will play in Thursday night's reserve fixture with a view to possibly forcing his way into March's thoughts for Friday's first team game.

March said: "There's still a lot for us to improve. We're behind schedule compared to where I'd like to be but we're not that far behind and we're going in the right direction."

Lucas Onyango (knee), Danny Whitmore (ankle), Dave Ellison (calf) and John Gillam (shoulder) will all face fitness tests on Thursday before Oldham coach Tony Benson settles on his team.

Definitely missing are Kashley Watkins, Chris Clarke (both broken wrists) and Mark Brocklehurst (suspended).

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Benson said: "We were on a high before our game against Blackwood but we were very pleased with that performance. We maintained our mental composure throughout so we're in a positive frame of mind for this game against Hunslet."

SUNDAY 14 MARCH

CO-OPERATIVE CHAMPIONSHIP

DEWSBURY RAMS v FEATHERSTONE ROVERS – 3pm

Rams coach Warren Jowitt will demand a major improvement from his troops when they host Featherstone Rovers on Sunday.

Last week Dewsbury beat amateurs Drighlington 42-10 in the Carnegie Challenge Cup but Jowitt was unimpressed.

He said: "I'm quite sure the players will improve. After the game they were brassed off with themselves.

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"I wasn't happy as a coach, and they weren't happy as a group of players. We'll need to be a lot better against Featherstone but I'm sure we'll get a response."

Alex Bretherton, Rob Spicer and Scott Watson are all two to three weeks away from returning to first team action.

Kyle Briggs (dead leg) and Iain Morrison will both be given a late fitness test before Featherstone coach Daryl Powell names his side.

The pair suffered minor knocks during Rovers' 74-0 romp against Workington but Powell is hopeful that both will be fit to play on Sunday.

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Powell has asked his team to continue their recent good form. He said: "We've got bags of self belief, and so we should have. It will stand us in good stead in the coming weeks."

KEIGHLEY COUGARS v LEIGH CENTURIONS – 3pm

Brendon Rawlins remains sidelined for the Cougars while full back Dan Belcher faces more tests on his ankle injury.

Cougars lost 62-18 against Barrow in midweek but ran Toulouse close in the Carnegie Challenge Cup.

Coach Barry Eaton said: "We have to understand we've made a step up in class and if you give the ball away cheaply against Championship sides, they'll punish you for it."

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Leigh travel to Cougar Park with no injury concerns. Assistant coach Paul Rowley said: "We're fully fit and we've got nobody suspended, so Ian (Millward) is going to have some tough decisions this week on who he leaves out.

"We've also got the dual-registered players back so there are going to be some good players who don't get in the side."

He added: "I don't know too much about Keighley but we'll be doing a lot of video work on them on Thursday and that should give us a good idea."

SHEFFIELD EAGLES v WIDNES VIKINGS – 3pm

Jack Howieson could feature for the Eagles after tests revealed he had suffered less damage than initially feared in a bicep injury.

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Alex Szostak also has a chance of playing in Sunday's Co-operative Championship thriller, but forward Alex Rowe will definitely miss out after being the victim of an assault in Leeds city centre.

Sheffield coach Mark Aston is demanding more from his squad, despite their 54-0 victory over Thatto Heath Crusaders in the Carnegie Challenge Cup.

Aston said: "I wasn't particularly happy with the performance.

"We kept our line intact, and respect to the boys for that, but I'm still not happy. We've got to be better than that."

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Toa Kohe-Love, James Webster, Jim Gannon, James Ford, Dean Gaskell and Steve Pickersgill will all be assessed before Widnes finalise their team selection.

Assistant coach Stuart Wilkinson said: "Sheffield are a real threat. They have a certain way of doing things and we'll have to be ready for that.

"We're improved recently but we've still got a lot more that we can do better."

CO-OPERATIVE CHAMPIONSHIP ONE

DONCASTER v SOUTH WALES SCORPIONS – 3pm

Under-strength Doncaster will be without four key players as they look to get back on track with a victory this week.

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Dons coach Tony Miller will be without Nathan Anderson (hamstring) and Aaron Henry (cheekbone) for a month each, while Grant Edwards (two months – knee) and Craig Fawcett (six weeks – finger) are also sidelined.

Doncaster lost 26-0 against amateurs Siddal in last week's Carnegie Challenge Cup game but Miller is calling for his troops to rally against adversity.

Miller said: "The players' pride was dented by the defeat, as was mine.

"We have to stick together and work hard to try and put thing things right… only ourselves can dig us out of the hole that we're in."

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Scorpions coach Anthony Seibold is hoping for a second successive win at the start of his club's debut season in Co-operative Championship One.

Having already seen off Workington in the first weekend of fixtures, the Scorpions travel to south Yorkshire in confident mood.

However, there will be no underestimating Doncaster's capabilities.

Seibold said: "Doncaster will be a difficult proposition at their home ground. They have had a tough couple of weeks results wise but you can bet your last penny they will have a tough week in training this week and come out firing at Keepmoat Stadium on Sunday. Any time a team is upset like they were by Siddal last week in the Challenge Cup the coach will look to get some sort of response from his players."

WORKINGTON TOWN v YORK CITY KNIGHTS – 3pm

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Dean Bragg (neck) is out for Town but Workington coach Gary Charlton is hopeful that Kris Coward will be available for selection after missing last week's game with a sternum injury.

Workington lost 74-0 at Featherstone Rovers in their third round Carnegie Challenge Cup tie.

Charlton said: "The boys are disappointed with the performance they put in. They know it wasn't up to scratch but we're expecting a big turnaround this week.

"It will be a great test for us because York will be up there at the end of the season. Having said that, it's a home game and we've targeted all our home games as fixtures we want to win.

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"If we get beat by a better side, then so be it – as long as our lads go out there and give their best shot then we can't ask for anything more. We've had a good video session on last week's game and pinpointed a lot of the areas that we fell down in."

Knights player-coach Chris Thorman could come back into contention after being rested for Wednesday's Northern Rail Cup game against London Skolars.

Danny Hill (wrist) is also expected to return to action while Steve Lewis is now "fully fit" according to Thorman after recovering from a hamstring injury.

Thorman said: "From my experience when you go to Cumbria you always expect a tough, physical game.

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"Cumbrian teams always seem to play better at home, which is understandable."

He added: "I want us to be focussed on the things we've been doing right and the things we can improve on. We've worked really hard on that and it's concentration more than anything.

"If we can stick an 80-minute performance against someone then it's going to be very impressive."