BOLTON RUFC coach Dave Crouch is confident his players will respond in the right way this weekend after the disappointment of defeat at Carlisle.

The Cherry and Whites host winless Silloth in the North Lancs/Cumbria Division on Saturday looking to get quickly back on track after a second successive away loss – 43-8 at Carlisle.

They are yet to win on the road but return to Avenue Street having won both home games so far.

And Crouch, who has taken over from Nick Holmes as head coach this season, has been encouraged by the attitude of the players in training this week having held a post-mortem into last weekend’s reverse.

He told The Bolton News: “Hopefully we can take our frustration out on Silloth on Saturday after last week.

“We just didn’t play on the day – we didn’t turn up at all.

“We expected it to be tough against a team that has just come down into this league but we made it easy for them giving cheap points away.

“They were up for it more than us and that is disappointing.

“But the players have been good in training and we had a good talk about the game.

“It is encouraging to see their attitude and to be fair they are a good group of lads who all want to work hard together and do well.

“We maybe just need to settle and get some mental toughness away from home.”

Bolton’s only scores came from a Nick Duncan try and a Mike Mills penalty in Cumbria as injuries also hampered their game.

Harry Stocks will miss the Silloth game recovering from concussion and Ash Cooper is absent, but prop Chris Mee is back in contention.

And Crouch, who admits he is enjoying his new role, hopes to see the team bounce back and maintain their impressive start on home soil.

He added: “I think a good start is key for us – last week we were 13 points down inside eight minutes.

“Our home form is good so hopefully that will continue. “As I say the lads have been good this week and the support from them and my fellow coaches has been great.

“I am enjoying the role and it is early days yet so hopefully we can get some consistency in this next run of tough games.”