Billingham player-coach Chris Hyndman has warned his side not to rest on their laurels until mathematically safe from relegation.
Three straight victories before Christmas all but secured Billingham’s National League status for a fourth successive season, as the club edged over the 40-point milestone.
The team have started the New Year with tough trips to Sheffield Tigers and Sandal, and despite playing well for periods in both matches, came away on the losing side.
With basement boys Beverley arriving at Greenwood Road tomorrow, Hyndman believes complacency is the biggest danger to Billingham’s season.
And as a result, Hyndman has rallied his team-mates to grind out “two or three” more victories to make their league status absolutely certain.
“We’ve had a tough start to 2015 with the two away games but in both we have been pretty happy with our performance overall.
“At Sheffield a fortnight ago we played well other than the first 10 minutes of each half, and then at Sandal we attacked well but they seemed to make us pay for every mistake.
“Beverley may be bottom of the league but they only just lost (22-19) against Sheffield Tigers last time out, so we aren’t taking anything for granted.
“Whenever you’re coming up against the bottom side, that’s all people talk about during the week.
“But this is a tough league where anybody can beat anybody on their day.
“Looking ahead we’ve got a run of games now that we feel are all winnable but we have to make sure we play at our best.
“We probably want two or three more wins to put ourselves in a really strong position.
“Even if you’re 20 points ahead, in this league all it can take is four bad results and you’re right back in the relegation mix.
“Another few wins will make us safe and our aim at the beginning of the season was to make sure that, by February, we were away from the relegation fight. We’re on course to do that.”
Greenwood Road has become a tough ground for opponents to visit in recent months with Billingham winning four of their last five on home soil.
Hyndman revealed the team have no major injury worries ahead of tomorrow’s match, with a victory likely to fire Billingham within touching distance of the top five.
The two sides last met in October when Billingham ran out 32-21 winners, and Hyndman is expecting another physical test against Beverley tomorrow.
“The forecast is windy which is always a bit of a pain for rugby sides and it will certainly impact on the match,” he said.
“When we played Beverley away from home they set out to make our life a nightmare at the breakdown, and they managed it.
“They have two big, robust centres - one of which used to play in the Super League with one of the Hull teams.
“So we have to match that, make sure we get our hands on the ball and play our game.”
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