COUGAR coach Gary Moorby is playing his cards close to his chest as he prepares for Sunday's trip to Leigh.

The Lancashire club are hot favourites for promotion to Super League at the end of this campaign, and in public Moorby is playing down his side's chances against the top club in NL1 -- but privately he believes his side could spring a major surprise.

After suffering the biggest injury crisis since he became coach at Cougar Park, the team suffered defeats in the opening three league games of the season. His young team turned that record round with a 42-18 victory at home to Featherstone Rovers, but Moorby knows the Centurians will be a very different proposition.

He said: "Leigh are among the favourites for promotion this year. They have invested heavily on the playing front and will no doubt prove to be a tough proposition, particularly at home.

"They have some very experienced players in their ranks with the likes of Tommy Martin and Paul Rowley, however they were been beaten at Whitehaven a couple of weeks ago.

"We can go there without any pressure on us, if we can maintain our progress over the past few games I believe we can give a good account of ourselves."

The Lancashire club also have former Cougar favourites Oliver Wilkes and David Larder in their ranks and travelling fans will be keen to see how they perform.

Injuries continue to plague the club and several players have had fitness checks this week, but Moorby is determined he won't be rushed into bringing half-fit players back into the team. He knows the season has a long way to go and he needs to look at the long-term fitness of his squad.

"James Rushforth, Danny Ekis, Matt Steel, Max Tomlinson and Richard Mervill, have all missed the last couple of games, but we won't be rushing anyone back," Moorby said.

The team has had a week off following the Challenge Cup which may have allowed one of two of the 'sick list' players to make it back into the side, but the squad was not due to be named until the weekend, with Moorby keeping his final line-up under wraps.

Leigh are expecting a bumper turn out of Cougar fans, after being disappointed by the travelling support of many NL1 clubs this season. It may be the last time Cougars play the Centurians' Hilton Park ground as the club is due to move to a new stadium in time for the 2005 season.

Leigh also have a special 'free kids' offer with children Under-14 getting into the ground free of charge if they are with an adult. However, the offer is only available at Gate 10 at the ground with adults paying the normal entry fee of £11.

"Cougars are famous throughout rugby league for their travelling support and we hope there will be a tremendous atmosphere on Sunday," said a Leigh spokesman.

The Cougar Under-18s Academy team is due to play Leigh in their first league match before the first team game in a match which kicks off at 12.15.

n Keighley Under-21s played Leigh at Cougar Park on Wednesday night and suffered a 44-6 defeat after holding the experienced Leigh side 14-2 at half time.