Roughyeds' head coach Tony Benson has brought Luke Sutton back into the fold in the firm belief that the former Keighley front-rower’s best days lie ahead of him.

The Rochdale-based prop originally joined the Roughyeds halfway through the 2008 season when Steve Deakin was coach.

He made six senior appearances that year and then signed again for 2009, only to miss most of Benson’s first year in charge because of personal and family reasons.

Nevertheless, he answered Benson’s call to arms at Dewsbury on July 26 last year when the club strugged to find 17 men to fufil that particular fixture.

"Luke hadn’t played for months," said the Oldham boss, "but he came back to help us out and in doing so he demonstrated what a great club man he was.

"He had very real and very good reasons to be out of the game on compassionate grounds, but he didn’t hesitate to give us a lift when we were in trouble.

"Early that season he was outstanding in the reserves. He was good on defence; he worked hard for long periods; and on attack he showed he possessed a good offload.

"At that time it was difficult for him to break into the first team because we had some of the front-row men we have now as well as Paul Highton and Richard Mervill."

The 24-year-old will be competing for a senior spot with Jason Boults, Wayne Kerr, Dave Ellison, Ben Mellor and Jamie I’Anson.

Sutton is hoping to make an impact at the third time of asking followng his six senior appearances in 2008 and his one – at Dewsbury – in 2009.

He said: "I’m ready to return to the club and make a real fist of it. I’ve trained a couple of times with the squad.

"There are a lot of new faces from last year, but they are a great set of lads and they have made a terrific start to the league campaign."