PAUL Crarey is sweating on the fitness of a number of Barrow Raiders players following Sunday's bruising 24-24 draw away to Doncaster.

Danny Morrow, Lewis Charnock and Dan Toal were all forced off during the match, while Brett Carter damaged his neck and Declan Hulme picked up an injury as well.

If the latter two are ruled out of this Saturday's home game against North Wales Crusaders in Kingstone Press League One then it would leave the Raiders light in the three-quarters.

Toal is set for the mandatory seven-day rest after suffering a suspected concussion at Doncaster too – returning to the field after passing a concussion test but later being unable to continue – while Morrow has suffered a torn bicep, which could leave head coach Crarey having to patch up his team for the Crusaders match.

“We've got to and that's the nature of the beast,” said Crarey. “We've got a big squad, some lads are champing at the bit to play and probably will against North Wales, who were pipped at home by Workington.

"We've just got get ready for it and get back to what we're doing. We're slowly getting back to where we were in the past month and I thought we were good against Doncaster, especially in the first half.

“We probably should have put the game out of sight with the chances we bombed, but in the second half with the wind we just couldn't get out.

“A penalty off their line was probably a 30-metre set for them, that's how strong the wind was, so they were straight on with good ball and there were signs at the end where we were hanging on. It's a fine margin at the top end of the table, but we didn't lose and we got a point.”

The good news for Crarey is the possibility of Raiders skipper Ollie Wilkes returning sooner than expected, having originally been expected to be out for over a month with a torn calf muscle, and the prop could play some part against North Wales.

The front row is one area where Barrow are particularly well-stocked, although both Andrew Dawson and James Duerden were required to put in particularly lengthy spells from the interchange bench against Doncaster as injuries began to take their toll.

Crarey is well-aware there are going to be more times this season where his side are faced with having to overcome injuries leaving them short-handed though and was pleased with how the squad reacted in adverse circumstances.

“We're just trying to get a balance back, but we're going to lose players and gain players each week now, and this is where it gets tough when you're in the Eights,” said Crarey.

“Now is where you see where you are as a team, but I'm proud of the players and they've worked really hard under extreme circumstances.

“When you've got no bench in games like this, away from home where it's really physical, you are just totally fatigued. We had lads doing big minutes who are only used to doing 20 minute spells.

“We just had no bodies left at the end and everyone was playing everywhere. We lost control of where everybody was at the end and it's just about scrambling. It feels like a loss to us because we have been doing so well.”