Jason Demetriou is confident Cougars will find the right response to their humiliating Northern Rail Cup exit when they host Batley on Sunday (5pm).

Keighley were thumped 60-12 by Featherstone in their quarter-final and now have only Co-operative Championship matters to focus on.

Demetriou believes his men will learn lessons from the defeat as they prepare to host John Kear’s side.

He said: “I think you’ll see a really big response to the Featherstone defeat because the players have learnt a valuable lesson.

“It’s unfortunate that you have to go through a heavy defeat to learn it, but it happens.

“We’ve won together as a team and we will take last week’s defeat together as a team.

“I’m sure we will see a much different Keighley Cougars this weekend.

“I don’t think it will be hard to get the players up for it because that’s now it in terms of the Northern Rail Cup.

“I think the best way to bounce back is to have a big game.”

Demetriou admits Cougars must repay their fans after they saw Featherstone score ten tries, all converted by Liam Finn.

He added: “Fortunately for us we’re at home on Sunday, so we can come out and put in a really strong performance and repay the fans who turned out in big numbers last week.

“They’ve probably not got their money’s worth in that game, but we can repay them this weekend and put in a performance that warrants them paying their money.”

Cougars lie four points and two places behind fourth-placed Batley but have a game in hand on the Bulldogs.

Demetriou is keen to return to winning ways after losing to Halifax in the league last time out.

He said: “We can put all our eggs into that basket now. We get a couple of weekends off which is going to come in handy.”

Cougars have been hit by injuries in recent weeks and will be missing several players, such as Semi Tadulala, again this weekend.

Demetriou said: “We’re struggling for troops at the minute and I don’t think that’s helping because there’s no competition for places, and you need that.

“We’ve got to get back to where we were.

“Semi is a big player, an international, but I don’t think he would have made much difference last Thursday.”

Cougars’ game kicks off at 5pm as the Olympic Torch is going through Keighley earlier in the afternoon.