Dave Clark believes Workington Town are showing plenty of signs of progress, despite suffering a 26-10 defeat to Barrow Raiders in Saturday’s Kingstone Press League One derby clash.

The scoreline might not show it, but Town dominated the possession and territory for parts of the game, only to come up against the imperious Raiders defence time and time again.

Tries from Jamie Doran and Ed Chamberlain provided some reward for their efforts and, although they were ultimately beaten, head coach Clark was left in no doubt his side are moving in the right direction.

“We were up for it physically and mentally, we knew we had to play a good game and compete with them, and we did that,” said Clark.

“This has benefited us a massive amount because we have got confidence in what we can achieve.

“For a team who are tipped as second-favourite to go up, and what they have done to teams over the last three or four weeks, we stopped them continuing their point-scoring, so it was great.

"Where we were probably four or fives months ago to where we are now, it’s a massive achievement for the club.

“I work closely with [director of rugby] Les Ashe and he has done a fantastic job with me and supporting me.

"So, from where we were to where we are now, I am very happy and proud to be a part of this club.”

Clark had been eager to see a response from his team after the surprise defeat to University of Gloucestershire All Golds in the League One Cup the previous week and was left in no doubt he got that.

He was also heartened by the way Workington coped with losing Macaulay Davies and Tom Curwen to injury early in the second half, and will hope to build on the positives for the Good Friday derby with Whitehaven.