RHYS Morgan wants his Ilkley side to raise their game when they host league leaders Hull this weekend to follow up an encouraging away display.

The Stacks Field side enjoyed an upturn in form at Wirral on Saturday when a much-changed line-up grabbed a 39-17 victory. Ilkley, who made a raft of changes to their squad, had winger Struan Connor largely to thank for the victory, as he scored a hat-trick.

This followed a call to arms from head of rugby Morgan following a 32-8 defeat to Alnwick, he dubbed a 'horror show', the previous weekend.

Now Morgan hopes the Wirral victory can be a platform for further success for his side, starting with the visit of the impressive league leaders.

Hull travel to Ilkley following seven wins from their opening eight North Premier games of the season, notching up 35 points, one ahead of second-placed Billingham.

Meanwhile, Ilkley moved up to eighth following the win on Merseyside, their fourth triumph from their opening eight league games of the campaign. Ilkley are part of a bunched-up mid-table with only five points separating fifth-placed Blaydon down to Alnwick in 10th.

Morgan said the build-up to the Wirral clash had brought out some tough talking and home truths with his squad but hopes the players who made way can bounce back and fight for their places.

He said: "After the Alnwick game, I was thinking 'where was the next win coming from?', so I'm delighted with the Wirral performance.

"I threw down the gauntlet to the boys. There were 11 changes to the squad for that game, it was a big call and a big week for us.

"The guys who came in took their chance and played on the front foot at Wirral. We carried strong and took the game to them. It was a tough, tough week at the office. It was not something that I wanted to do.

"The players who did not get selected for the Wirral game need to take it on the chin and come back. That's rugby. The ones that came in did really well and lead by example with commitment and aggression. Max Mackay was outstanding, Elliot Morgan lead from the front.

"We are not a big squad but it shows we have strength in depth. We still need to recruit in order to get through the season. It fell quite lucky for us that we won and we were able to rotate it.

"I am so pleased as the result puts us right up the table. We have a cushion from the bottom three too."

Morgan says he expects his side to give leaders Hull a competitive game, if their past record against them is anything to go by.

He added: "We always seem to give Hull a good run for their money and give them a hard time.

"I want my players to back up the Wirral win with another strong performance. We need to come back on it and ready to go again this week. We have 26 games in the season and we need to be able to bring that level week in, week out.

"Hull are a semi-professional team, they are always hard to beat. If we play like we did on Saturday, we will be in with a chance.

"I hope that we can raise our game again."