Anthony Murray believes his North Wales Crusaders players owe the club’s fans a ‘big performance’ this weekend.

The Cru coach was left frustrated by his side’s below-par showing in their 50-6 reverse at Oldham, dismissing the performance as ‘not good enough’.

The Wrexham club have struggled for consistency at times this season, and Murray has demanded a reaction from his players against his former club Workington on Sunday.

He said: “Nobody likes losing but if you’ve given a good account of yourself then you can take it, but I was really disappointed with the performance at Oldham.

“Right from the first whistle we weren’t quite at it and that showed in the number of errors we were making an the penalties we were giving away.

“I’ve coached here for a long time and I’m really disappointed, not just with the result, but with the technical aspects of our play.

“Our completion rate was way down and Oldham punished us for it, so this week has been about reviewing the game and picking it to pieces.

“It was an off-day for some of our players but I fully support them and I trust the ones who play to get it right this weekend against a very strong Workington side.

“We owe it to ourselves to do better and we owe it to the fans too, who have been brilliant and stuck with us even when results haven’t gone our way at times.

“We’ve got the home advantage now and hopefully that will give us a bit more belief that we’re capable of matching one of the league’s best sides.”

A disappointing sequence of results has seen the Cru collect just two victories from their last seven outings.

That form has left the club 10th in the League One standings, with an 11-point gap between themselves and the play-off places.

Conversely, fourth-placed Workington have realistic promotion aspirations and head into the clash buoyed by a 46-6 success at West Wales Raiders last time out.

But powerful Cru prop Brad Brennan insists that Sunday’s game could be the perfect opportunity for his side to salvage some pride as he echoed Murray’s call for a strong performance.

Brennan said: “It’s not really a shock that the Cumbrian sides like Workington and Whitehaven are doing so well this season.

“To see those teams battling it out at the top of the league isn’t a surprise to me at all, they’ve got plenty of quality in their squads and can hurt teams.

“For us though,what happened last weekend was unacceptable and we have the chance now to play with a bit more pride against strong opposition and hopefully get ourselves back on track.”

League One action starts tomorrow when leaders Bradford Bulls look to bounce back from their defeat to title rivals York in their game at London Skolars.

Title-chasing York City Knights host Coventry Bears on Sunday, West Wales visit Hemel Stags, Doncaster host Oldham, Hunslet go to Keighley, while Newcastle head to Whitehaven.

Sunday’s game at The Queensway Stadium will form part of a double-header as the North Wales origin side play Deven Sharks beforehand in an 11am kick-off.

Gates will open at 10:30am with tickets (pay on the gate) priced at £10 adults, £7 concessions and £3 under 16’.