Sheffield Tigers still in title race says Bates

Sheffield young gun Josh Bates has called on them to bounce back from their Knockout Cup disappointment as they return to Premier League action on Thursday (7.30).
Josh BatesJosh Bates
Josh Bates

The Tigers will host fellow high-flyers Peterborough in a mouth-watering clash at Owlerton as they look to recapture their top form.

The Yorkshiremen suffered a blip with a resounding 107-73 aggregate defeat in their Cup quarter-final tie with Newcastle – but Bates insists they are still title contenders.

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As they chase three more points to potentially return to the top of the table, he has declared his belief that they can bring Premier League glory back to the city after a 14-year wait.

The 20-year-old said: “Everything is going well, we are all gelling together and we have a good craic in the changing rooms.

“We’ve got a good team spirit this year, and I think Sheffield have a good chance of winning the league, I really do.

“We’ve had a couple of bad meetings, but overall we’ve shown how strong we are and you can see that with where we are in the table.

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“We just need to keep it going, keep winning our home meetings and move on from what happened against Newcastle in the Cup.

“That was a disappointing result, but we just need to put that behind us and focus on the Premier League now, because that’s our main goal.”

It is hoped a bumper crowd will turn out at Owlerton with a special offer of £10 admission for those with tickets for the World Cup race-off and final being held in Manchester over the following two days.

The Tigers triumphed 49-44 when Peterborough last visited Owlerton in the League Cup in April and they will be hoping for a similar result.