Dion Aiye should be back to boost Whitehaven’s latest recovery mission when they host Keighley Cougars on Sunday.

The Papua New Guinea star was a late withdrawal from the team which went down 30-22 at Doncaster in the last League One Super 8 clash.

Chairman Tommy Todd said: “Dion travelled with us but he clearly wasn’t well and had to drop out. He hardly said a word all day so definitely wasn’t himself.

“But we’ve seen him through the week and he appears to be a lot better, so we are expecting him to be raring to go against Keighley.”

Aiye, who was a late arrival to the Whitehaven cause this season, has been in excellent form with starring roles in recent performances as the west Cumbrians finished second in League One.

Aiye missed training on Friday and didn’t inform the club.

Todd said: “It was difficult going into the game without our player-coach Carl Forster and Dion, because I’m sure we would have won with a bit to spare if those two had been playing.

“They caught us cold early in the game when I think we were still on the bus, and then scored two tries in the last eight minutes to win it.

“The first of those came from our knock-on right in front of the Doncaster posts.

“It was disappointing to lose our second game in the 8s but Carl will be back this week and Dion’s return will stiffen up the side as well.”

There should also be another boost for third-placed Whitehaven as prop-forward Jordan Hand should also be back in contention.

He has missed the last two games with a knee problem but is expected to resume training on Friday. And, if all goes well, then Hand will be in the squad for Sunday.

Keighley are still battling for a play-off semi-final place and received a big boost last weekend when they drew with Toronto Wolfpack.