BUOYANT Barrow will be aiming to make it five wins on the trot when they head to Doncaster for round two of the Super 8s tomorrow (kick-off 3pm).

Although edged out 21-18 by a 12-man Doncaster in their last meeting at the Keepmoat Stadium, Raiders coach Paul Crarey believes his side have learned from their experiences since.

The stunning 34-12 win by a 12-man Raiders over second-placed Rochdale Hornets at Craven Park was just the tonic they needed ahead of the trip to South Yorkshire and followed three previous wins against Hemel Stags, Keighley Cougars and Oxford.

Barrow have prepared well for the Keepmoat battle and Crarey thanked both conditioner Paul Taylor and strength and conditioning and rehab consultant Paddy Maher for their great contribution in getting his side in fine fettle.

But the Raiders boss expects Doncaster, who have yet to play in the Eights following the postponement of the clash against crisis-hit York City Knights last week, to come out with all guns blazing for what could be an epic encounter.

Doncaster have had the edge over Barrow in their last seven meetings, with four wins – three at the Keepmoat Stadium to Barrow’s one – and as well as having a powerful squad they can also call on Hull FC, with whom they share dual-reg.

That could mean Barrow’s pack will have to contend with former New Zealand Warriors, Wigan Warriors and Salford front rower Iafeta Paleaaesina.

If he does play, close tabs will have to be kept on the former Kiwi international forward who is likely to cause problems with his blockbusting charges down the middle.

Crarey said ahead of the clash: “I know we have had a tough game but we have had a real light week, a lot of sore bodies with having that man off and having to do extra work. Training has been very light and we have just concentrated on skills.”

That, however, will be ramped up ahead of the all-important clash, with Crarey adding: “I think they are a good team, they have only lost three games all year and beat us down there in what was a very close game.

“We are now probably more accomplished now but they have had some great results. They have a big set of forwards and I think (Iafeta) Paleaaesina is in the frame to play, so he is going to be one to handle through our middle.

“Joe Bullock, Martin Aspinwall and Ollie (Oliver Wilkes) will have their work cut out controlling him.”

He added: “We have got a lot of confidence now, we have had some big wins, Keighley and Rochdale and some accomplished wins in between them, Hemel and Oxford, so we are on a four-game roll. But you have got to be at our best when you go to the top five or six teams when they are playing at home.

“They are expected to win like we were by our fans at the weekend and we did that, so Doncaster will tighten their belts a little bit and get ready for us.

“They’ll be thinking we’re fatigued, but we are a very fit team and all credit to Paul Taylor for that and Paddy Maher, who have done an absolutely fantastic job and topped us up over these past few weeks. We have probably gone as hard as we did in November to get us up to the performance that we put in at the weekend.”

Doncaster coach Gary Thornton said: “We haven’t played for a couple of weeks now and sometimes it can help in getting some of your injured players back but we kind of want to keep the momentum going. But it is what it is and we’ve just got to deal with it.

“We’re looking forward to getting going again against Barrow this week. They had an excellent win and played very, very well.

“When we played them at our place earlier in the season, I thought they were the best team we’d played, I do rate them quite highly.

“It’s going to be a very tough game but one we’re looking forward to, we’re champing at the bit having had two weeks off.”

Full-back Tom Carr, hooker Kyle Kesik and second row Brad Foster are all back but scrum-half Jordie Hedges is serving a three-match ban.

l York City Knights will complete their season after all, a statement from the Rugby Football League has said. Hopes rose after dates for their remaining home games were confirmed for Bootham Crescent.

The calling-off of last Sunday’s Super 8s opener at home to Doncaster due to York City’s ground being unavailable that weekend led to the board saying they were to close the club as it was “unsustainable” due to groundshare issues both there and at the planned new community stadium. There followed expressions of interest in taking over the club.

York are due to play Toulouse today and will host Barrow next Saturday, subject to agreement from the Raiders.