Eagles set to welcome back Reece for Swinton

Doncaster Dons' Reece Dean converts his kick against London Skolars. Picture: Andrew Roe

The duo were both cup tied for last weekend’s defeat to Hull Kingston Rovers but whilst Dean is set to be included, director of rugby Mark Aston admitted that Johnson is struggling with a knee injury.

“Reece is back but Liam is still not quite there with his knee, so he is a doubt,” Aston told The Star.

“We were again competitive for large parts of last weekend, and we should have gone into half-time in front but lets say the person in the middle didn’t agree with that.

“We didn’t get the decisions last week, but there were still plenty of positives in that performance. We have a few players back for the weekend; we will keep working hard and look to turn things around.”

The Eagles also look set to include Jake Spedding after the 20-year-old signed a one month loan deal from Super League side St. Helens on Thursday, as Aston looks to arrest the recent slide and leapfrog the Lions in the Championship table.

After being bolstered heavily in the opening rounds of the season by dual-registration partners Leigh, Aston again isn’t expecting any players from Neil Jukes’ side as they look to battle against their own injury troubles.

“Leigh are not in a position to throw anybody in our direction at this moment in time,” Aston confirmed.

“That is understandable. There is an Easter period coming up which means plenty of games and they need their players. We need to get on with things, use what we have got and bring on those who we have brought in on loan.”

Swinton sit just above the Eagles in the table on two points with their solitary victory in the league coming against Dewsbury, who have yet to register a point this season.

Aston though is full of admiration for John Duffy’s side, who beat the Eagles narrowly at Heywood Road last season.

“They play a great brand of football,” he added.

“I have watched the videos and they pushed Featherstone very close, and I really believe that Featherstone got out of jail in that game. Swinton ripped them to bits at times. They can do that to anybody. They are a quality team who are well coached and they have good players.”