KIRKBY Lonsdale skipper Matt Hughes says a scouting mission up the A65 to Kendal proved crucial as his side prepared for the visit of Wilmslow at the weekend.

The Underley Park outfit moved back above their neighbours into second place after sweeping aside the Cheshire club, who put up a stern test for Kendal the week before.

Present in the crowd for that game was Hughes and a few of his teammates.

"We were very impressed with what they had to offer," said Hughes. "We trained well on what we saw their strengths were with the line-out and how they moved the ball very quickly so we worked on that and then on Saturday it was one of them occasions when everything we did clicked and it all came together for us.

"Our line-out hasn't been so good for the past few weeks so we worked on it Tuesday and Thursday night last week. We knew it was one of their strengths but we took a few of their line-outs and won all of our own so it was obviously a worthwhile exercise going to Kendal the week before."

The victory, which comes after a narrow loss at leaders Birkenhead Park the last time Kirkby took to the field, put them back into prime position for a play-off spot but Hughes insists there's still a long way to go.

"We are confident and pleased with the way things are going but it's the old cliché that we have got to take each game as it comes.

"Even Bolton this week can cause us an upset because they are involved in a relegation battle. They weren't a bad side when they came to us, the only difference was fitness as they seemed to tire in the second-half but their fitness would have improved as the season has gone on so we are expecting a tough game on Saturday.

"We said how important it was to get back on track after the Birkenhead loss like we did when we lost at Kendal and bounced back with a string of wins.

"We try not to worry about losing, no-one has gone unbeaten in the league for a reason. It's a very strong league all the way down to 14th place so every team knows you are going to get losses and disappointment so it's just about how you deal with it and we are fortunate enough to have the character to bounce back."