"LESS talking, more doing," insists head coach Scott Rhodes ahead of Heworth ARLC's National Conference League division three clash with Waterhead Warriors.

Despite last Saturday's 22-12 defeat at Dewsbury Celtic - the Villagers' fourth loss of the young season - Rhodes has stressed he is more concerned about performances and improvement than results right now.

And the Black and Whites' first-half performance was exceptional, Rhodes says, with Heworth taking a 12-0 lead into the break. It was the second period where it unravelled and Celtic stormed back to take the two points.

This is the not the first time this term Heworth have taken a good lead into the break only to leave empty-handed at full-time. The 40-28 season-opening defeat at Eastmoor Dragons - when Heworth led 24-4 at half-time - is another case in point.

Former York City Knights captain Rhodes admits he does not quite know where it is going wrong for his young side, whose ability is in no doubt - they just need to put it into practice.

He said: "I'm not concerned about the results, I'm more looking at the performance, and our performances in the last three or four games have been pretty good.

"We've still lost a couple of games by switching off at key moments and we have got to get that right. Teams get their tails up and it can be hard to defend against three or four back-to-back sets.

"It's nothing to do with a lack of skill - we've proved we can do it. It's just doing it. It's strange.

"I don't know if it's mentality, they relax because they've got the lead or they're waiting for somebody else to do something.

"We're working, we're talking, we're saying the right things, it's just getting out there on the field - that's the hard part.

"We've got a very young side and they're learning each week.

"I'm just looking at improving week in, week out. We've got to improve and play for all 80 minutes.

"Looking at this week, Waterhead are a decent side but they're there to be beaten. We're at home, we've got a young side, we've got to get out there and do it.

"Less talking, more doing."

Rhodes is feeling good about Saturday's visit of third-placed Waterhead, who lost 38-10 last week at home to Woolston Rovers.

He said: "I dare say we can go and beat any side. I know that, I've seen it - even at the weekend. We know we have enough to beat these teams.

"We know how we prepare for games and we know we have players to win games but we've got to be ready to work hard to put in a good performance to get the wins."

James Gill and former Knights fringe pair Adam Dent and Liam Jackson should all be available for Heworth.

Division one top-scorers York Acorn face a selection headache ahead of Saturday's home game against Oulton Raiders.

Jordan Hyde, Josh Thompson, Daryl North and Jake Calam can all return for Josh Mortimer's second-placed side, whose 44-18 win at Featherstone Lions last week was their fourth league victory on the bounce.

New Earswick All Blacks and Acorn 'A' are without fixtures this weekend in Yorkshire Men's League premier division and division two, respectively.

In NCL Alliance Group 2, Heworth 'A' will look to recover from last week's 24-16 home defeat to West Bowling when they host Dewsbury Celtic 'A'.