BARROW Raiders head coach Paul Crarey is determined to secure Championship rugby for the town and the club for next season.

Raiders 36-24 defeat at home to Toulouse at the weekend means they are still very much involved in the battle to beat the drop.

Injuries continue to take their toll on the Cumbrians with Charlie Emslie back among the walking wounded.

The clash with the French side was Emslie’s first game back following a long lay-off after an operation on his bicep, but Crarey confirmed he was injured again at the weekend.

But the head coach vowed that his squad will continue to give their all in what has been another campaign blighted by injuries.

He told the club’s official YouTube channel: “We’ve got a lot of broken bodies.

“We lost Charlie again with his bicep, and we will limp to the end of the season

“I want to stay in this division. We’ve had so much adversity this year with injuries.

“Ramon (Silva) is injured, and (Matt) Costello and Ryan Johnston and Stacky’s (skipper Jarrad Stack) mother passed away (earlier in the season) and he had time away from the club.

“It’s been such a difficult season, but we are fighting so hard.

“For the crowd, the board, the players and everyone else we’ve got to stop in this division.

“It’s a fantastic competition the Championship, and we want to continue to be part of it.”

To do so, Crarey admits his side need to find belief and to stick to the plan.

“I think we were a bit sloppy first half, our set starts were poor,” he added.

“Centres were just tapping it and carrying it in when we went to play on their middle.

“We wanted to knock the ball out and make it slow, and not give them a transitional play, and we gave them that transitional play.

“They got 10 points away from us, and then we knocked it on the back three, and they absolutely tortured us.

“We went in at 22-0 down and I wasn’t best pleased to say the least. I just wanted them to do what we talked about doing, play with shape, knock the ball out, take it off their back three and we did it fantastically (in the second half). We got within 10 points and then we decided to knock it back up in the air again.

“We’ve got to be smarter. Poor offloads in the first half, knocking it on the back three cost us in terms of points and not staying in the game.

“Then after a bit of a roasting at half-time we had a bit of a reaction which is pleasing, but we’ve got to believe in ourselves against these big teams from the word go.

“You start slow, and start sloppy, and there’s no way back.”