PAUL March admits Cougars are fighting for their lives but is confident they are capable of securing safety in Sunday’s crunch home clash against Featherstone.

Heading into the final round of fixtures, March’s men lie in the final play-off spot and two places above the dreaded drop zone.

Yet both Batley and Whitehaven are just one point behind them and could overtake them this weekend should Cougars lose to Rovers, raising the nightmare prospect of relegation to the third tier.

Chairman Gary Fawcett says Sunday’s Championship showdown is Keighley’s “biggest match for 20 years” but, crucially, their fate remains in their own hands.

Player-coach March said: “Everybody needs to get to Cougar Park on Sunday given what’s at stake.

“We’re fighting for our lives now but it’s in our hands.

“It has been in our hands for a few weeks now and the added pressure of that has taken its toll a bit.

“But it only takes one performance and one win to get us to where we want to be. We’ve got points on the board already and it’s up to other clubs to try and catch us.

“Like ourselves, Featherstone lost on Sunday and will want to make a statement this weekend – but so do we and it’s all about what we do.”

March, who could have key prop Brendon Rawlins back after a broken hand, steered Cougars to safety on the final day of last season but his men have made significant strides this year.

They reached the Challenge Cup quarter-finals and could now end up in the play-offs, which would cap a tumultuous second year in charge for March which has seen him serve a two-month stadium ban.

With Featherstone needing a win to secure a second-placed finish, a bumper crowd is expected at Cougar Park.

Former Wakefield star March has been delighted with Keighley’s support this season and believes fan power can play a key role on Sunday.

He said: “The fans have been brilliant. They have turned up week in and week out and when I set my stall out at the beginning of the year, I said we wanted to be a lot more consistent than we were last season.

“I believe we’ve done that but the only reason we’re in this position is because five teams get relegated and not two.

“We knew that at the beginning of the year and we’ve played towards that. But we know ourselves we could have closed this season off a long time ago.

“The Batley, Whitehaven and Workington defeats were games when we were in control and could have picked easy points up.

“We’ve made it hard for ourselves so we’re going to prepare well this week and go into the game like we always do.

“We’ll train well this week and give Featherstone a run for their money.”

Batley have a tough game at Doncaster and Whitehaven travel to Swinton, while Cougars could finish as high as seventh should they win and Workington lose at home to Dewsbury.

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The waters have been muddied after Batley had the three points they had docked for fielding an ineligible player (Huddersfield’s Jacob Fairbank) reinstated last week.

March said: “We’ve just got to concentrate on what we’re doing.

“Workington have got a tough game against Dewsbury and Batley have got a tough game at Doncaster.

“Whitehaven play Swinton away so that’s not going to be easy either.

“We’ve all got tough games but if we win, we qualify for the play-offs.

“If we don’t, then we’re relying on results elsewhere.

“We’ll prepare well and look forward to the challenge. The RFL wanted it to go down to the wire and hopefully it will be happy days on Sunday.”

March’s squad is in decent shape but Luke Haigh will remain absent with an ankle injury.

“Luke is going to have to see a specialist with his ankle,” said the Cougars chief.

“It got better and he trained a couple of times and it has gone back to square one.

“He will see a specialist this week and apart from that everybody is fit. I’m hoping Brendon Rawlins will be available again.”

March is seeking an improvement from his players after a sluggish start at Dewsbury last weekend saw them fall 18-0 behind before they rallied to earn a bonus point.

He said: “We didn’t start the game well and to go so many points down against a team like Dewsbury is always going to make it difficult.

“We hung in there, showed a bit of character and got a bonus point. We will need that type of character again on Sunday – but right from the first whistle.”