ROCHDALE did not become League One pacesetters without being a strong side, and Paul Crarey is well aware of the sting in the Hornets’ tail.

The Raiders boss has already suffered one defeat to the Greater Manchester side this year – a 14-4 iPro Cup loss on a Craven Park mud-bath in February – and he knows his Barrow side will have to be at their best to exact their revenge tomorrow.

“We’ve had a look at Rochdale and we know we are going to be up against a strong side,” said the coach after studying Hornets’ 28-all draw against Toulouse last weekend.

“They were the better side for long periods even though there is some class in the Toulouse side,” he warned.

“There is some good football in the Rochdale side but the biggest thing to impress me in the Rochdale side is that they have improved defensively.

“My mate Jason Viller is coaching the defensive structures and he has done a cracking job. Last year they leaked a lot of tries but this year they are a solid outfit.

“Offensively they have always been good, but now defensively they are right up there and I think it will be a cracking game. We have got to be on the ball.”

Crarey is not overly concerned that Barrow have dropped to seventh place in the table following their 21-18 defeat at Doncaster.

He knows the league is so tight that a good run of results will see them climb back up the division quickly. Raiders are only two points behind leaders Rochdale, so victory tomorrow will put them right back in the thick of it.

“Everybody has got to play each other and there is going to be a lot of twists and turns,” he said.

“Even further down the table if you look at Hunslet, they have had three defeats and yet they will be really tough to beat and it wouldn’t surprise me if they beat Doncaster this weekend.

“It’s a pretty competitive league and you have just got to grind out every win and see where you are when we hit the play-offs.”

Cresta is confident the vocal Craven Park crowd could help his team get over the line tomorrow in what could be another closely-fought match – as it was in the iPro Cup clash.

Barrow could have Liam Harrison and Brad Marwood back from injury and the boss said: “The crowd are brilliant at Barrow. They will get behind us.

“We had some cracking games last year against Rochdale. And in the iPro Cup I don’t think they had a clean line break against us, they scored off two kicks and it was an horrendous day.

“I think the weather is going to be poor again this Sunday so our kicking game has got to be real good.

“They’ve got a good kicking game and they’ve got some strike as well. They are calling on first team players from Warrington as well. One of them (Tom Lineham) got two tries at the weekend.”