Sheffield Eagles: 'If you don't play for 80 minutes in this lead, you can come unstuck' - Mark Aston on the competitive Championship

The Eagles’ quest for a top five finish has taken two severe dents in recent weeks, following defeats to play-off rivals Leigh Centurions and York City Knights.

There could have been little room for argument should the results have swung in favour of the Eagles, with both contests running right to the wire.

Aston believes the recent games are an indication of the competition as a whole, which he says is one of the most competitive in recent times.

He told The Star: “We've had two good games against York, very close games. The competition at the moment is very good. We played Leigh recently and there was nothing in that game as well. If you don't turn up on the day and play for 80 minutes in this league, then you can come unstuck.”

Aston refused to criticise his troops, who he says are giving the maximum effort at a crucial time of the season, with another must win game against Dewsbury Rams firmly on the horizon at the OLP this Friday night.

He continued: “We didn't play for 80 minutes against York, we played for about 70 minutes, and that was the difference. I am not going to be hard on the players though because I thought the effort was there. We just needed a bit of luck.”