PAUL Crarey is in no doubt Barrow Raiders new-look squad are still getting used to how each other play and the situation is not helped by being without several key personnel.

A 56-0 defeat for the Raiders in Sunday’s defeat to York City Knights exposed some areas the visitors were found wanting in, with head coach Crarey being frustrated by attacks breaking down late in the tackle count and being unable to counter York’s speed around the ruck in defence.

Skipper Martin Aspinwall, and ex-York pair Josh Johnson and Jordan Walne earned praise for their efforts in trying to spark some life into Barrow, but Crarey was disappointed with a lack of runs to support their carries.

And he believes the absence of Jamie Dallimore, who sits out the last game of a two-match suspension this Sunday, plus long-term injured players is not helping as the squad try to gel after a busy off-season of recruitment.

“We’ve lost Ryan Duffy, we’ve lost Glenn Riley and we’ve lost Dallimore, who holds us together a little bit,” said Crarey. “No matter what people say about Jamie, he talks well and he’s a winner and he holds us together.

“We’ve got young Ryan (Johnston), who’s finding his feet in the game at this level and it’s a lot of pressure, and that’s why we picked him over Jake (Carter) because it was difficult for Jake at this ground playing with the ferocity and speed they do.

“The Papua New Guineans have been with us for five weeks now, and Jordan Walne and Josh Joshson came in late, so the little team we had before had been together three or four years and knew each other inside out.”

Crarey took some encouragement from the fact the Raiders produced a completion rate of 88 per cent compared to 82 per cent for York, but knows they cannot win with opponents have around double the number of sets with the ball in hand.

He was full of praise for the way the City Knights played as well, but wants a turnaround ahead of this Sunday’s match at home to Dewsbury Rams.

That starts at training tonight, where there will be a forensic breakdown of the video of Sunday’s game.

“We’re clunky and in this division you’re going to get beaten, but I didn’t think we’d get beaten as heavily as that,” said Crarey. “We were disappointed as a group, but it’s about pulling together on the field.

“We look beyond probably what the public see; they had double the possession and were playing well as well, and probably our process wasn’t good and we got beaten through the middle again.

“We’ve got to try to fix that up when Dewsbury come.”