KEIGHLEY Cougars head coach Craig Lingard is hopeful that a large crowd can inspire a famous victory for his side on Sunday, as they go head to head against local rivals and title favourites Bradford Bulls.

He said: "I hope that it will affect the players in a positive way and spur them on as opposed to putting them in their shell.

"This is certainly a massive game and it's the first league game against Bradford in many, many years.

"You're looking for the players embrace the atmosphere."

Lingard knows that his side have to rely on more than their fans if they are to pull off the victory, and outlined what they will need to do on the pitch during the 80 minutes.

He admitted: "It's going to be a very difficult game. We've got to try and be strong down the middle, keep knocking the sets out and complete up high.

"Bradford are going to try and pressure us, so we know we've got to keep the ball...and we'll be looking to play to our attacking strengths."

Lingard did not feel the need to look back on last month feisty pre-season clash with the Bulls, which saw four players sent off.

He insisted: "I'm not going to go back over what happened last time we played Bradford, we've got to look forward rather than looking back over that.

"It's a derby, it's going to be feisty at times, it's going to have a lively atmosphere."

One player who will not be featuring at the weekend is Davey Dixon. The Cougars winger has only recently returned from the Commonwealth Games in Australia, where he starred for Scotland 9s as they won the Shield Final.

Lingard confirmed: "He's played midweek against Bradford in the reserves.

"Harry Aaronson has played on the wing in the previous two games and has done really well.

"Davey hasn't played for us since the start of February so it's only right that he has an 80 minute spell in the reserves to put himself back into the contention for the following week."

Even without the exciting Dixon, Lingard feels that his Cougars side have what it takes to spring a surprise.