The Cougars are not prepared to rest on their laurels despite already securing a best-ever performance in the Northern Rail Cup.

Qualification for this year’s knock-out stages was a first for the club but now they have silverware in their sights.

Keighley face York City Knights at Cougar Park in Sunday’s quarter-final in an unfamiliar position as favourites.

Since their promotion to the Championship last year, they have been constantly viewed as the underdogs, written off as favourites for relegation before the campaign had even began.

But the combination of some impressive performances – including last week’s 25-24 win at Sheffield – and lower-division opposition means they are expected to reach the last four.

“One of the goals we set at the start of the season was to qualify for the knock-out stages of the Northern Rail Cup,” said coach Barry Eaton.

“We wanted to start the season really well in the group stages of the cup and use that as a real confidence boost going into the league campaign.

“We managed to do that and we’re slowly but surely getting there as a team.

“It’s a different scenario this week because we’ve been underdogs in most games. I don’t think it should be too difficult for the players to get their heads around it though.

“We spoke about it in training and the players know that not only do they have to take the chance to reach a major semi-final, they have to deal with being favourites.”

One Cougars player who would hope to get a chance in Sunday’s game is Luke Helliwell, a recent capture from York.

The versatile playmaker impressed in the reserves’ win against Sheffield last week, and is due to get another run-out for the second string tonight, but the quarter-final clash is likely to come just too soon for the former Bulls junior.

“He joined us on loan last week so we gave him a go in the reserves and he was probably the best player on the field,” said Eaton.

“Hopefully he’ll force himself into first-team contention over the next couple of weeks.”

Aside from Greg Nicholson (ribs) and Dan Belcher (hamstring), Eaton should have a fully-fit squad to choose from.