Town's versatile hooker Stuart Howarth hopes the chance to recharge can help Workington head into the Super 8s in a positive frame of mind.

Sunday's 36-0 defeat did not prevent Town from finishing in the top half of League 1 and Howarth hopes they can now regroup and get players back from the treatment table ahead of what will be a challenging set of fixtures.

Town are due to host Whitehaven, Toronto and Doncaster, and travel to Barrow, Newcastle, Keighley and York in the competition, having earned just one draw against those sides during the regular season, but Howarth believes they should feel confident.

"We just need to rest a few bodies because we've put quite a bit of effort into getting into the top eight," he said.

"We'll keep ticking over and get ourselves in the best state for the games.

"There are a few lads carrying knocks and that was a bit of an issue on Sunday, although it's not an excuse.

"This next week to 10 days will give us a bit of time to sort those.

"It's a lot better being in the top eight than not so we'll try to climb the table and see where it takes us.

"It's back to basics."

Despite achieving their target of a top eight finish, Howarth admitted the defeat at York on the last day of the regular season had hurt and is eager to make up for it in the coming weeks.

A sluggish start saw Town trail 24-0 after 25 minutes but a huge improvement saw them concede just once in the second half and Howarth admitted they just had to hold their hands up.

He said: "It was nowhere near good enough.

"We are still disappointed with the result and especially with a nil.

"It wasn't the conditions, it was a perfect day for rugby.

"They were just the better team on the day."