Cougars still have plenty to work on

Keighley visit Coventry on Sunday hoping a three-week break between fixtures hasn’t halted their momentum.

The Cougars defeated Hunslet 20-12 on Good Friday, but have been out of action in League 1 since then.

Keighley boss Craig Lingard has led the team to three wins from their first five league games this season, but he admits there’s still plenty to work on.

“Some weeks you think we’ve got there and then the following week, you think we’ve gone back a couple of steps,” he told the club’s official website.

“There’s been such a high turnover of players, while players who were here last year are still getting used to me and the other coaches and about how we want to play the game.

“It’s been difficult for some of the players in that they have never had as much freedom as what I’m probably giving them.

“We give them a basic game plan and say to them ‘we’ll give you a fall-back and give you certain patterns to play with start points but what happens after that – you’re on the field and it’s up to you to do it’.

“Some players have taken to that really well and some are still getting to grips with it. It’s still a learning process, but we are getting there slowly.

“Where we are at the minute is 70-75 percent of where we want to be, which I suppose at this stage of the season is good. It’s something to build on.”