Barrow Raiders are undertaking one of the most gruelling away journeys in any sport during the rest of the week, with them facing the daunting task of playing runaway Betfred Championship leaders Toronto Wolfpack.

The Raiders' patched-up squad flew out to Canada this morning for a match where their relegation to League One is odds-on to be confirmed.

The Lamport Stadium has proved to be an unforgiving venue for teams who have travelled across the Atlantic, with the Wolfpack unsurprisingly, given the squad at their disposal, unbeaten on their home patch this season.

There won't be much time for Barrow to acclimatise themselves with the five-hour time difference, either, with the game coming less than two days after they land, a demanding schedule on what is a part-time team.

Head coach Paul Crarey said: "It's a seven-and-a-half hour journey and you probably won't get there until 7:30 or 8 o'clock at night, our time, then you've got to drop the clocks back to 2:30 in the afternoon.

"By the time 8 o'clock comes around again, it's more like the early hours of the morning here so the lads don't get to bed til late and then they're up really early on the Friday.

"We then play on the Saturday and then straight after the game we get on the flight home, which is not ideal because Jarrad Stack, when he hurt himself last time had to take painkillers to sit on the flight on the way back.

"It is a difficult trip for everybody, especially part-time players, but hopefully they'll go to the Super League this year and then that's done and it's up to the Super League clubs to sort everything out from there."

The Raiders were defeated 64-0 on their last trip to Toronto, in June 2018, and plenty will be expecting a similar scoreline, given the fact that Crarey has been struggling to cobble a squad together, due to injuries and work commitments, amongst other things.

Crarey said: " I think everyone just treats it for what it is now - they go with what they've got.

"Like everybody else in professional sport, they don't go to lose and they give everything they've got - nobody writes the game off.

"Some of the full-time teams can prepare properly and go earlier in the week, get ready and train well for it and even then it's a difficult ask. We just want to get it done and get home."