THE Cougar Roar can help stop the rot for Keighley says new head coach Rhys Lovegrove, as he looks to build a younger side.

Cougars host London Skolars on Saturday (3pm kick-off) in Betfred League One looking for a change in their fortunes after five successive defeats.

They are particularly hoping for home comforts after losing their last two league games, both on the road, at Hunslet and Oldham Roughyeds, scoring just four points and shipping 62 in the two matches.

Lovegrove, 32, hopes the return to home soil, and his first match in charge in front of the Cougars faithful, can laid the foundations for an improvement as they stay bottom on -1 points.

The Australian lost his first game in charge at Oldham 28-4 last Sunday but says he was encouraged by the performance.

But he is already looking to bring young players through at the club and praised the performance of Jordan Aitchison, who he called up from the reserves for the trip to the North West.

Lovegrove said: "I'm starting the job by taking it a week at a time.

"I have a fairly defined way that I want the team to play. I want to see which players I can teach and develop.

"I want to give players opportunities to score, especially wingers, that's what they get paid for.

"The fans have been great and the players have been great. I am really looking forward to Saturday and the players showing the fans how hard they have been working in training.

"I have really been pushing the players hard in training over the last few weeks, I have been asking for more from them.

"I don't believe winning games should be the focus. We teach our players certain aspects of the game that they can apply. The outcome will then be that we win games.

"I have a long-term plan. We have got to make sure that we learn from every single experience. Every time we go out on the field we've got to be a little bit better.

"My ethos is I want to have a young, exciting team, with some experienced players to help nurture these kids.

"I don't want a team full of journeymen. If you're a player over 23 or 24 you'd better bring something like leadership to help bring us through. I would much rather do that.

"'Buster' Feather has been killing it for us this season, but his value is what he is doing for the players around him. My job is to teach players well.

"We 're on a poor run, but we've got a little bit better each week. We have been playing all of the top teams lately."

Meanwhile, a blast from the past has returned to Cougars as Lovegrove starts to mould his squad.

Ryan Wright has re-joined Cougars on an initial month's loan deal from fellow Betfred League One outfit Hunslet.

The 27-year-old hooker played 18 times for Cougars during the 2018 season, scoring two tries, before joining Hunslet in July last year due to financial problems at Keighley.

Wright began his career with Leeds Rhinos before moving to Wakefield Trinity and coming through the academy system there.

He started his career in 2013 with his first of two spells at Dewsbury Rams. He went on to enjoy three spells, including one on loan, at Doncaster, Gloucestershire All Golds (loan), and the Cougars.

Meanwhile, Wales international utility back of Marcus Webb has also joined Cougars on an initial month's loan from Hunslet.

Cougars also hope to have a number of players back against Skolars after they missed the trip to Oldham.

Further assessments will be carried out on Benn Hardcastle and Matt Nicholson (both concussion) who were sidelined through injury and Louis Sheriff unavailable due to work commitments.

They hope to have Harvey Hallas back after the prop was part of his parent club Dewsbury Rams' squad that travelled to Canada to face Betfred Championship leaders Toronto Wolfpack.

Lewis Wray is back following the head injury he sustained in last month's reverse fixture against Oldham.

Meanwhile, the transfer deadline has been pushed back by a month to Friday August 9, the Rugby Football League has announced.

The change, which has been agreed with Super League, Championship and League One clubs, takes effect across all three competitions and is a result of the scrapping of the Super 8s.

The league has also announced that the cut-off date for dual registration will be Monday, August 12 and the transfer deadline for both the Challenge Cup and the new 1895 Cup will be Friday, July 19.

Sam Allen, the RFL's head of professional operations, said: "The change in the structure of the three professional divisions this season provided an opportunity for us to work with the clubs on a new schedule which we feel will work better for clubs, players and the game as a whole.

"Having the cut-off dates for new signings and dual registration qualification later in the season will give clubs greater flexibility to manage their squads while remaining sufficiently in advance of the end of the season to avoid undermining competition integrity."