Anthony Murray has urged his North Wales Crusaders side to make their game in hand count at London Skolars on Saturday.

After a stuttering start to their League One campaign, the Cru have found form of late with successive victories over West Wales Raiders and Doncaster.

The confidence-boosting wins have handed the Wrexham club a timely-boost ahead of their clash in the capital with the third-placed Skolars.

Head coach Murray said: “We’ve had two decent wins back-to-back and it was really important that we started to build a bit of confidence.

"We've played a game less than most sides in the league and now this is our chance to capitalise by making the London game count and taking another two points.

“We’ve set ourselves some goals in camp about what we want to achieve in the space of a month, including the game at Doncaster.

“The division’s really tight this year so a couple of wins can take you right up that table.

“We’ve not been far away all year and we need to learn from those close matches when we ended up the losing side.

“We need to make sure we put ourselves in a position where we don’t lose those matches.”

The Cru have already savoured away success against the London club this season, recording a convincing 31-18 Challenge Cup success there in March.

But Murray is wary of the threat posed by the Skolars, urging his players to 'expect the unexpected'.

“I think it’s going to be a really close game between two in-form sides", he added.

“London have beaten Hunslet and Workington recently so they’ll no doubt fancy themselves.

“They’ll want to cement their place in the top half of the table as much as we want to break into that top half.

"They're a big mobile unit and rely heavily on a solid middle core on the pitch. A lot of their plays can be quite unorthodox and off-the-cuff, which can be difficult to coach against.

"We'll need to be alert and disciplined in our approach and expect the unexpected against tough opposition."

The Cru will be without the injured quartet of Dante Morley-Samuels, Stephen Wild, Jack Houghton and Matt Read for the clash.

But Murray says that competition for places is strong in his current squad and believes that some of his peripheral squad players will be out to stake their claim for a shirt today.

He added: “It’s healthy to have those levels of competition among a group of players, who are all desperate to be involved every week.

“ We’ve got players like Simon Atherton and Alex Worrall who’ve been squadding in the last few weeks, who will now get their chance to impress. It’s a big opportunity for them and for us to keep this positive momentum going now in what will be a really tough test for us.”

The weekend’s only other league fixture sees Workington Town head to Coventry Bears.