Workington Town centre Jason Mossop insists he and his teammates will not be underestimating Hunslet Hawks ahead of their Championship Shield clash on Sunday.

Town beat Hunslet 30-6 in the final game of the regular season but Mossop said his side will not be taking that for granted on Sunday.

A number of Mossop’s teammates admitted that they may have underestimated the Hawks as they went 6-0 down after five minutes but then went on to score 30 unanswered points to secure the coveted eighth spot in the table before the Super 8s split.

“You can’t underestimate teams in this league,” Mossop said. “They are in a similar position to how we were a few weeks ago and all it takes is one win to turn things around.

“It was a really tough game and I don’t think we played all that well. The conditions were shocking and the weather was appalling. We didn’t perform as well as we could do but still came away with a result.

“Hunslet are a good side and have some good half-backs in Danny Ansell and Simon Brown. It’s not going to be an easy game this weekend.”

Mossop was part of the side which recorded its fourth consecutive win as Town moved three points ahead of play-off chasing Batley Bulldogs, who they beat at the weekend, and rivals Whitehaven.

“It was a really good result and a good performance,” the centre continued. “There are still some areas to work on but our defence was solid.

“Our forwards set the platform. They were going up against a very big side and it was a bit of a challenge for them but it made things a lot easier for our half-backs.

“We are getting better each week and once you get one win you get some confidence.

“The Whitehaven game kick-started our run and we went into that game knowing it was a must win and it’s allowed us to kick on from there.

“Last season, we set the benchmark with our defence and that was keeping us in games. We went from having the third-best defence last year to having one of the worst this season but we seemed to have turned that round.

“We knew that wasn’t us and the lads have really been digging in.

“Even at the weekend our scrambling defence was good and lads were getting back in numbers. It all comes down to confidence. As we saw last year, if your defence is on top you’ll start to win games.”