STRUGGLING Wharfedale have wasted no time in recalling Rob Baldwin to their first team.

The 31-year-old has been out of action since he ruptured a distal bicep tendon in his right arm at the end of October against Leicester Lions.

But he successfully came though a run-out with Wharfedale Foresters last Saturday, and has not only been picked at flanker for the home National League Two North clash against fourth-placed Stourbridge, but has been handed the captain's armband in place of Josh Burridge.

The Foresters beat a beefed-up Huddersfield Falcons 34-20 at The Avenue in the Yorkshire Premiership, and Baldwin said: "I came on five minutes after half-time.

"There were plenty of contacts but I came through okay and I have put my hand up for first-team selection – as long as I get through training okay."

Doherty added: "Rob understands the club and what it is all about.

"He has seen it, done it and got the T-shirt, he makes his tackles and he carries strongly. Also James Tincknell is due to play this weekend (for the Foresters)."

Centre Tincknell, who is in his fourth spell at The Avenue, has been out after a wrist operation.

The irony about Wharfedale's dreadful 14-8 defeat at Sheffield Tigers on Saturday was that the losing bonus point took them out of the relegation places.

When their head coach James Doherty was told of this, he admitted: "It made me smile for about three seconds and then I remembered how absolutely abysmal we had been.

"We have had great support to some of our away matches, in some cases even taking more spectators to Leicester than they had home fans, but if I was a Wharfedale supporter I would have felt short-changed by the performance.

"They don't expect us to win every week but they do expect 100 per cent effort.

"I told the players that that display was not acceptable, and thankfully they took it on the chin.

"Tom Barrett was smart in dropping a goal to get us a losing bonus point but we got that by only playing at 20 per cent of our potential against a team that had been bottom of the table before kick off.

"We played like we had been doing before Christmas."

Wharfedale have 33 points from 20 matches, and have moved ahead of Scunthorpe, who lost 32-8 at Otley and only threatened to score a try when the hosts were down to 13 players in the final ten minutes due to two sin-binnings.

Scunthorpe have 32 points from 21 games, while Tigers have 26 from 21 and new cellar dwellers Preston Grasshoppers 24 from 20.

Doherty added: "It could well come down to bonus points at the end of the season, but we aren't going to stay up by gaining bonus points in our last ten matches.

"We aren't going to stay up either by getting only three wins.

"The players need to step up their games and stop falling off tackles."

Wharfedale (home to Stourbridge): H Bullough; R Davidson, T Davidson, J Guy, S Jordan; T Barrett, P Woodhead; J Altham, D Stockdale, J Huck, G Hedgley, R Rhodes, R Baldwin, J Burridge, T Whyte. Replacements: A Howard, J Poole, I Larkin, J Kitching, R Wellock.