Barrow Raiders are hoping Storm Dennis won't leave them waiting another week to get their season started, with the weather again putting their Coral Challenge Cup tie against London Skolars in jeopardy.

Last week's postponement - due to Storm Ciara preventing the Skolars from making the train journey to Barrow - didn't caused too much disruption to the fixture list (if anything, they've now got a proper run of games).

However, there would be bigger implications if the third round tie was called off again and even if it does go ahead tomorrow, it is likely to be a war of attrition, with the high winds set to make proceedings more of a lottery.

The one difference this time is that the Raiders know what awaits them if they do progress, as expected; a trip to Betfred Championship side Featherstone Rovers next Sunday.

Head coach Paul Crarey: "We've got to get through London, I've looked at them and they've got some good players. They've bought well and I think they've dualled with London Broncos, so they've got the luxury of some high quality players.

"If the weather's poor, it will be a right battle - I spoke to Carl Forster and he said it was one of the toughest games they [Whitehaven] played last year and every time we've played them down there it's not until the final quarter, if you're going to win, that you do win because their pitch is so narrow.

"Going back to the weather, if the weather's bad then we won't be able to play expansively and we'll have to take them on down the middle, which will put huge pressure on our middles."

The Raiders had several amateurs from Walney Central to boost numbers at training this week, but they are likely to stick with the same team they had planned for last Sunday.

Captain Jarrad Stack is able to start running again after having a knee brace removed, although he is still a couple of weeks away from a return, while the club are being careful with shoulder injuries to Nathan Mossop and Jake Carter.

Crarey said: "Mark Tyson and Tom Hopkins are in on merit because of what they've done in the off-season, while Jake Carter is still recovering from a shoulder injury, so Mark will be covering the halves and Ryan [Johnston] will push up to nine at some stage.

"If an outside back goes down then Mark can cover them positions as well. They've done really well, Tom and Mark, as have all of the amateurs, Carl McBain as well. He was unlucky to miss out on the squad and we'll probably give Carl a run-out at Featherstone, if we get through."

n Walney Central product Luke Broadbent (now of Warrington Wolves) has been named as one of the 43 players in England's National Academy Performance Squad for 2020.