Barrow Raiders will be strengthened for their first Betfred League One fixture of the season at Doncaster on Sunday, with forwards Jono Smith and Lee Jewitt expected to return.

The Raiders' coaching staff decided to err on the side of caution with former Hull KR prop Jewitt, who momentarily dislocated his shoulder in the Coral Challenge Cup third round tie against London Skolars.

It meant the 33-year-old missed last Saturday's 18-16 loss against Featherstone Rovers, for which Smith was unavailable as the date clashed with him moving house.

Head coach Paul Crarey said: "Jono Smith will be back in the squad. He was moving house and we were supposed to be playing on the Sunday, but the game got moved to the Saturday and we didn't know that.

"It was a chance for us to play the younger fellas anyway and they did a great job when we gave them some minutes on there, so it shows we've got a little healthy squad.

"It may only be a small squad, but they're all capable of coming in and doing a good job.

"I said to the fellas at the end that it would probably be the hardest game they'll play through the middle and speed-wise all year and we've handled it real well and come through the other end.

"We've got to keep games quick, play our sets out and learn and be disciplined because if we want to go up to another level, you've got to do all that and a little bit more."

The match at Featherstone marked the debuts of props Connor Terrill, who scored Barrow's second try, and Carl McBain, while former Askam man Tom Hopkins made his first start as a professional at Post Office Road.

The way those players, who were all playing in the amateur ranks last season, performed was one of the big positives Crarey was able to take out of the game.

He said: "Lee could have played on Saturday, but we left him out and there were parts in that game where we could have used his experience in the middle. It would have been good for us, but I thought Carl McBain and Tom Hopkins on that left side were absolutely outstanding, gave us 80 minutes and defended like a Trojan.

"I thought our defence on the edges was real good - they through a lot of shape at us, we left space, knowing they'd have to go over the top to beat us and we frustrated them."