CRAIG LINGARD is confident Cougars can be in the mix among the major League One contenders as the campaign kicks off on Sunday.

His side host Leon Pryce's Workington Town this weekend in upbeat mood after pushing big-city neighbours Bradford Bulls hard in a 28-20 friendly defeat at Odsal.

The head coach was pleased with the character shown by Keighley against the odds-on title favourites, having been level at 16-16 before having to play with a man less for much of the second half after Samir Tahraoui was the first of four dismissals in a tempestuous affair.

It was the second loss to a well-fancied team after Cougars were thrashed at Oldham but Lingard has seen enough in pre-season to believe they can challenge the top sides.

He said: "Oldham took us to the cleaners when we played them but we left a lot of our potential starting 17 out. We gave some of the fringe guys an opportunity to lay down a marker and some took it and some didn’t.

"I think if we get our strongest 17 out and a bit more experience out on that park we’ve got the tools to challenge these teams.

"Although our completion rate against Bradford wasn’t great – I think we completed at about 35 per cent in the second half – we still put points on the board.

"We’ve shown that if we do things right and we do them more often than not then we’ll trouble some of the top teams in this league."

Lingard admits Sunday's visitors Workington are something of an unknown quantity under Super League legend Pryce, who is making his bow as a coach after hanging up his boots last season.

Former Leeds Rhinos star Ryan Bailey is Town's marquee capture after the forward left Toronto under a cloud. He links up with ex-Wolfpack team-mate Sean Penkywicz, while former Cougars player Oliver Wilkes has also moved to Derwent Park.

Lingard said: "It is a tough one against Workington under Leon. I'm not sure what he is going to throw at us with it being his first competitive game in charge but we will have a look at videos of a couple of their games and certainly have a look at us from Sunday.

"We'll see where we can pick out some weaknesses of Workington and also where we need to tighten up in our game."

Pryce apologised to Workington fans after their last pre-season outing, which was a 30-12 defeat to local rivals Whitehaven.

* The grand raffle for Cougars prop Brendon Rawlins' testimonial year was drawn at the recent match in his honour against Leeds Rhinos. Some of the prizes have remained unclaimed.

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