Assistant coach Craig McDowell insisted Workington Town must step things up if they are to make it three wins from three games tomorrow and stay top of League 1.

Town travel to take on Doncaster at the Keepmoat Stadium (3pm ko) looking to continue their strong start after victories against Oldham and North Wales.

Doncaster made the perfect start to their season with a 32-26 win at Newcastle Thunder, only to stumble to a shock 18-20 home defeat at the hands of Hunslet last weekend.

But McDowell expects the South Yorkshire side to be Town’s toughest test so far and believes they will need to step up their performance levels if it is one they are going to pass.

“We’re concentrating on going there and putting in a performance,” he said.

“We were a little bit lacklustre against North Wales.

“It’s not a major concern because I’m assuming most teams will be scratchy at this time of the season; look at Newcastle who have lost their head coach this week from two defeats.

“We’re certainly looking for a response, an 80-minute performance.

“We’re not at the place we should be for this time of year but at the same time we’ve still picked up two wins.

“If you can win by 30 points without being in top gear, we should be excited to see how we perform once we click.”

McDowell understands that some might think he and head coach Leon Pryce are a little harsh to criticise performances after back-to-back wins put them top of the league but believes setting high standards now will give them the best chance of long-term success.

“We strive for first place in this competition and we are our own biggest critics,” he said.

“In patches last weekend we just weren’t good enough, although we had a little bit of disruption with losing Ryan Fieldhouse and Tyllar Mellor slotting in.

“It looks good to be top of the league but it’s at the end of the season that we want to be in that position.

“We’re looking for some of the combinations to show a bit more.

“It takes people time to gel but at the same time we’ve got competition for places now and you’ve got to perform to keep your spot.”

McDowell said a couple of players have been struggling from niggles which will be assessed this morning and admitted the long-term absence of Fieldhouse will be a blow.

He added: “Ryan is going to be a massive miss.

“He starred for us in pre-season.

“Replacing him is going to be difficult.”