Keighley Cougars
Skolars will test Cougars' ambition
 |
| Richard Knight is one of several Cougars players fighting for fitness |
Barry Eaton won't let his Cougars side underestimate the threat posed by London Skolars in Bank Holiday Monday's tussle.
Second-placed Keighley narrowly missed out on top spot in National League Two when they were pipped by leaders Doncaster last week.
It was their first defeat of the campaign, ending a five-match winning run, and they have been playing some great football.
Perennial strugglers London, meanwhile, travel north having lost four of their opening five fixtures and with only Hunslet below them in the table.
Monday's clash appears like the perfect opportunity for the Cougars to immediately get back in the groove but the hosts won't take them lightly.
"Skolars have given a misleading impression to a few people with their start to the season," insisted Eaton.
"They have had some big players missing and it was no coincidence most of those were back when they picked up their first victory against Hunslet on Sunday.
"They also got wins against League One sides Sheffield and Celtic Crusaders in the Northern Rail Cup.
"It's going to be a hard match for us. I've reminded the players that we didn't get the desired performance when we beat Blackpool, who were down at the bottom, and I'm hoping this time we won't give ourselves a tougher afternoon than it already is.
"We can't afford to because London have some quality personnel and will be really boosted having ended their own losing sequence."
Former NRL centre Namila Davui notched a hat-trick against Hunslet, while Australian scrum half Jamie Nowland and Richard Louw - who was in the NL2 Team of the Year last season - are the dangermen.
Eaton hopes to name an unchanged side to the one that went down narrowly at Doncaster.
However, he has plenty of walking wounded following that physical encounter and will give key forwards Richard Knight, Neil Lowe and Jermaine Wray until Monday morning to prove their fitness. Wayne Sutcliffe, Tom Palmer and Greg Nicholson wait in the wings.
Meanwhile, scrum half Adam Mitchell has gone out on loan to Batley, where he debuted last week in National League One, and prop Luke Sutton - another player who has struggled for a first-team match so far - is taking some time away from the game.
Start or join a debate on this issue in our on-line forum - Click here
6:37am Saturday 3rd May 2008
Print 
Email this 
Comment
What are these links for?
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
More on Digg
More on del.icio.us
More on Furl
More on reddit
More on NowPublic/
More on Yahoo!
