Barrow Raiders' squad for the 2020 season moved closer to completion after back row Dan Toal became the latest player to pledge his future for another season at Craven Park.

Toal has signed a new one-year contract with the Raiders and, in further good news, he should be able to take a full part in the first day of pre-season training tomorrow after the knee injury that disrupted his 2019 campaign subsided.

Like so many in Barrow's squad, the Ulverstonian, whose younger brother Shane is also staying on, suffered a difficult year, in which he was restricted to just 14 appearances, with only three of those coming after the end of June.

Rugby director Andy Gaffney said: "I think Dan has got a big season ahead of him next year. He'll get a good pre-season and, at the end of the day, when he's on the field he never takes a backward step.

"He runs some really good lines up the pitch and he's a bit of a natural talent, really, because he's tough and he's just really adaptable to playing in different positions on the pitch.

"He had trouble with a knee injury, but that's all sorted out now. He's coming back into pre-season next week, so we just need to get a really good pre-season into him, so he'll be like a new player next year."

Toal came through the amateur game with Ulverston before making the step up into the professional ranks with Barrow in the 2012 season, making his debut against Leigh in February of that year.

In total, he has made 171 appearances for the Raiders, scoring 57 tries, with three of those coming last season.

Gaffney is pleased Toal's comeback means a clean bill of health for when the players reconvene, saying: "The players who had niggling injuries at the back end of last season have had time off and they're coming back raring to go.

"When we go into pre-season, it will be like having new players, rather than last year when we were playing injured players all the time and then that injury gets worse and you don't get the best out of your players. It was a vicious circle."