CRAIG Lingard says belief is strong within the Cougars camp that they can claw back a five-point deficit and reach the League One play-offs.

Keighley will start their Super Eights campaign with a trip to Doncaster on Sunday, July 30, having confirmed a top-half regular season finish by thrashing Oxford 92-6.

That saw them claim seventh spot and their aim now is to reach the top five with seven games to go. They remain five points outside the play-offs, with fifth spot currently occupied by the Dons, but Lingard insists Cougars are capable of bridging the gap.

He said: “We’ve got to be confident. We go into every game to win and there is another 14 points available for us to get on the board from now until the end of the season.

“We are going to need a couple of favours from teams around us. Ideally for us we’d want the top four to win all their games except against us and fifth position lose every one to give us an opportunity of getting back in.

“We can only try to get two points each game and see what happens after that.

“Everyone is taking points off each other. I don’t think there are any teams in the top eight, apart from Doncaster when we played really poorly, that we haven’t troubled this season.

“Obviously we need to be consistent for the full 80 minutes but we are really confident.”

The trip to Doncaster next week is followed by two challenging home games.

York City Knights, whose coach James Ford reported a number of Keighley players to the disciplinary panel following their victory earlier this month, return to Cougar Park on August 6 while the following Sunday sees red-hot promotion favourites Toronto Wolfpack back in town.

But Lingard hopes his side are coming into form at just the right time as they followed up their stunning comeback draw at Workington with a record-equalling home win over Oxford.

Sunday’s success left him delighted and he said: “It was difficult to single anyone out. The forwards laid the platform by winning the ruck and then the outside backs came in and scooted and just chewed up the space. We got a 13-2 penalty count on the back of that.

“I was just really pleased with the whole team performance and the execution. Once they got through the line their composure was really good.”

Lingard admitted forward Emmerson Whittel’s ankle injury was a bitter blow, with the player having suffered suspected ACL damage.

He said: “He is a really important player for us. He covers the back row and any position in the middle.

“He’s got that versatility and is great to have in the group. It is disappointing for us but more so for Emmerson as it looks like it is a season-ending injury.

“We must rally round him and make sure he is a part of the group for the rest of the season.”

Meanwhile, the Cougars boss said he was hoping to tie up dual-reg Batley prop forward Trae O’Sullivan on loan for the Super Eights.

Lingard said: “He added a new dimension to us. He is a big human, difficult to put down and gets out of the line and puts some shots in. The more game time he gets the better he will be.”