IF the two Coral Challenge Cup ties Barrow Raiders played were the hors d’oeuvres of the 2020 season, then tomorrow is very much the start of the main course, as Paul Crarey’s side begin their Betfred League One campaign at Doncaster.

It’s set to be another tough trip to Yorkshire for the Raiders, who gave a superb account of themselves in defeat at Featherstone Rovers, where a late try saw the Championship side squeak through 18-16.

It’s unlikely to come much harder than the Keepmoat Stadium for teams in the division but that is the first hurdle that has been placed in front of Barrow as they look to climb out of it at the first time of asking.

Doncaster haven’t been afraid of splashing the cash this year, as they look to return to the Championship after five years away, but head coach Crarey has seen plenty of encouragement from his players in the recent cup ties.

He said: “We want to be up there and competing at the back end of the season. We’ll need to be lucky and not get so many injuries, although we’ve got a few out already. I don’t think Stacky [Jarrad Stack] is going to make this game and Mossy [Nathan Mossop] is another one, so we’ve just waiting for them to come back in.

“We’ve got a couple of knocks from last Saturday where we don’t know whether they’re going to make it either but we’ll be able to go there and still put a balanced team out.

“If we play with the enthusiasm we played with last week and the commitment, then we’ll go some way towards trying to get that result on the road.

“Everybody has got to win their home games in this division, so we’ve just got to be ready and be focused and keep our feet on the ground because if you thought Featherstone was tough last week, this is going to be tougher.”

Crarey should have a forward pack up for the battle against the Dons, however, especially as that department will be boosted by the returns of prop Lee Jewitt (shoulder) and back row Jono Smith, who missed the match at Rovers as he was moving house.

Crarey said: “It will be a big battle up front and it won’t be as quick as the Featherstone game because there will be a lot of wrestling involved.

“Featherstone kept the game quick, trying to blow us away, but we stayed with them, so hopefully we’ll be able to keep the game quick and get Doncaster to go with us.”

Crarey will also be hoping for some more luck with the officials than at Port Office Road, although he has little complaints with the 14th - and last - penalty that led to Fev’s late winning try.

Instead, he is more concerned with a decision his team failed to get while they were in the shadow of the home side’s posts.

“How we weren’t given a penalty off almost the last play of the game is beyond me and beyond all reason,” Crarey said.

“I showed my wife it and she couldn’t believe it and she doesn’t know nowt about rugby league. I asked her what she thought about it and she said ‘is he supposed to be doing that'?

“Craig Hall, who wasn’t involved in the initial tackle, flopped on Carl Forster when there was a peel on and stayed there.

“Having said that, it was a monumental performance and we gave everything we’ve got, so probably taking it to extra time might have been a big drain on us.”