COUGARS player-coach Paul March has urged his players to lay down an early title marker when they open their League One campaign at home to York City Knights tomorrow.

After being bundled out of the Challenge Cup and iPro Sport Cup, March’s men now have the sole focus of winning promotion ahead of them this season.

Cougars have not played since losing to Swinton in the quarter-finals of the League One knockout competition on March 15.

Although new signing David March (hamstring) and prop Ross Peltier (thumb) miss out through injury, Keighley should otherwise be at full strength for the eagerly-awaited showdown (kick-off 3pm).Player-boss March said: “York were league leaders last year and will want to do well again.

“We need to prove to everybody that we are title contenders, even though it’s only round one, and that means getting off to a winning start.

“We’ve had two weeks off now and it’s been like a mini pre-season for us in terms of getting things sorted and the players getting themselves 100 per cent fit.

“We’ve only got one goal now after getting knocked out of the League One Cup and that’s to win promotion. That starts on Friday and everyone will be up for it.”

March believes the loss to rivals Swinton served as a warning to his team as they bid to bounce back to the second tier at the first attempt.

He added: “The League One Cup was a competition we wanted to do well in.

“It was just a tough game against Swinton and that’s what I’m expecting a lot of games to be like this year.

“We’ve just got to make sure we prepare well and take our chances when they come our way.”

March is happy with the blend in his squad, with a number of promising youngsters complemented by more older players such as his brother David and Rikki Sheriffe.

“We’ve got a lot of experience and a lot of youngsters coming through as well,” added March.

“We’re a tight-knit group and we’re focused solely on achieving our goal of promotion. We need to set a standard.”

The hamstring injury that will keep his brother David (pictured) out for a few more weeks means that March should feature tomorrow.

He explained: “With bringing David in, I planned to take more of a back-seat role and watch from the stands.

“But David picked up his injury in pre-season and will be out for a few more weeks yet.

“The influence of me being on the field lifts a lot of the players and I’m hoping I will play a lot.

“It will depend on how my body holds up and I will play in whatever position I’m needed on the field.

“This week I’ll be coming off the bench at hooker but I can obviously play stand-off and loose forward as well.

“It depends on who we play against, but I’m expecting a tough battle down the middle against York, so I’ll play more in the forwards. I’ve got options now for whoever we play.”

March’s former club have found themselves engulfed by uncertainty over plans for a new stadium.

He said: “Fordy (James Ford) will be telling his players to put things like that to one side and control what happens on the field.

“Hopefully things get sorted for them off the field because I was at York and the people there deserve a decent stadium.

“It has been in the pipeline for a lot of years and I’m sure it will all get sorted.”

Meanwhile, tomorrow promises to be a poignant occasion when Cougars unveil their newly-named Terry Hollindrake Stand in honour of the club legend, who passed away earlier this year.

Keighley MP Kris Hopkins will open it at 2.30pm and Terry’s granddaughter Brogan will be singing on the pitch beforehand.