COUGARS chairman Gary Fawcett believes there will “not be a dry eye in the house” at Danny Jones’ funeral tomorrow as the club prepares to bid farewell to their former favourite.

Up to 2,000 mourners are expected to attend at St Mary’s Church in Gibbet Street, Halifax at midday tomorrow before the wake at Brighouse Rangers ARLFC.

Jones died following a cardiac arrest, triggered by hereditary heart disease, while playing for Cougars in their League One fixture at London Skolars on May 3.

Fawcett said: “Since losing Danny, we have been building up to the funeral and I would be amazed if there was a dry house in the house.

“It will be very, very emotional and it’s going to be a difficult day.

“I was actually at the funeral of my girlfriend’s grandmother on Monday, so it’s not often you attend two funerals in a week.

“Steve Ball of the RFL Benevolent Fund thinks there might be up to 2,000 people in attendance tomorrow.

“It is expected that an outside PA system will be set up at the church so that people can listen to the service.

“Such big numbers would not surprise me given how many people turned up at the Coventry game at Cougar Park which followed Danny’s passing.”

Fawcett admitted the emotion of losing Jones had taken its toll on Paul March’s squad during their defeat at Swinton on Sunday.

Cougars had thumped Coventry 52-10 but were below par last weekend as they were beaten 29-16.

Fawcett added: “On Bank Holiday Monday, when we were travelling back the day after the Skolars game in London, everybody was in a mess.

“I had come to the opinion on that Monday morning that we had to play the Coventry Bears game.

“Some of the players didn’t want to play it, some of them did, but luckily enough Lizzie (Danny's wife) and the family made that decision for everybody.

“The next time they were getting back on a coach was at Swinton and I actually said to the guys ‘you won’t beat Swinton’, which is unusual for me to say something like that.

“I said ‘you will beat Coventry Bears because you will be up for it, but you won’t beat Swinton’.

“Some of the guys agreed with me, again some others didn’t, but we were just flat on Sunday at Swinton.

“Against Coventry Bears, we were playing for Danny whereas on Sunday at Swinton we were looking for Danny a bit.

“It’s a good job we have this weekend off because there would be no chance of us winning a game a couple of days after Danny’s funeral. It’s just going to be a very emotional day.”

With League One's iPro Sport Cup final taking place as part of the Championship's Summer Bash in Blackpool on Saturday, Cougars’ next outing is at home to Oldham Roughyeds on Sunday, May 31, when the main stand will be officially renamed The Danny Jones Stand before kick-off.

Club captain James Feather will undergo a head test prior to the match after suffering concussion against Swinton match and being taken to a local hospital.

“Buster got checked out and he was fine, but he will still be required to do the head test and hopefully he will pass it,” explained Fawcett.

“But he was certainly passed as being fine in A&E after going to hospital.”

However, injury concerns are mounting for Cougars and Fawcett revealed they are monitoring the market for potential new recruits.

Player-coach March is expected to continue in the half-back role left vacant by Jones’ passing but Fawcett admitted: “We are actually carrying quite a few injuries at the moment.

“Jode Sheriffe couldn’t play with a knee injury and Rikki Sheriffe also missed out owing to concussion. There are a few of them who are a walking wounded right now, so we are looking to bolster the squad.

“I’ve been ringing around to see what players are available.”