KEIGHLEY Cougars head coach Craig Lingard will accept an ugly win as his side look to make it third time lucky when they face Hunslet in a Good Friday clash.

Cougars are aiming to end a two-match losing streak after they went down 26-12 to York City Knights in Betfred League One on Sunday.

One plus point from a poor day on the road was debutant Perry Whiteley grabbing a try.

Tomorrow Cougars welcome back Nathan Conroy after he served a one-match ban, but half-back Matty Beharrell will be on the sidelines for one more clash following his two-match suspension.

Cougars travel to sixth-placed Hunslet side, who will also look to get back to winning ways, following a 32-12 defeat at Bradford Bulls.

Lingard said: "We are getting there.

"Hunslet is going to be a game played down the middle. It's a small field there. We will have to get the ball forward before we can go wide.

"It won't be a game for expansive rugby. It is meant to be wet and windy. We need to get into games like this and arm wrestle and play tough.

"First and foremost we need to win.

"We always knew it was going to be difficult to pick up points from our first five games.

"We need to take points off teams in and around us like Hunslet. It is a massive game for us."

Meanwhile, it has been another busy week for Cougars in the transfer market.

Ben Morris has joined on a month's loan from Betfred Super League side St Helens.

Morris, a versatile player most at home in the back-row, has joined Lingard's side on a month's loan after only making one appearance so far in 2018 for Championship side Sheffield Eagles, on dual-registration, in their Challenge Cup Fourth Round defeat to Barrow.

The 20-year-old forward has been with the Saints since the age of 14 and is a full Wales international, making two appearances for the Dragons during last autumn's Rugby League World Cup in defeat to Papua New Guinea in Port Moresby and also in the defeat to Ireland in Perth.

At club level, Morris was a part of the St Helens side that won the 2016 Academy Championship after going the entire season unbeaten.

Morris also spent the Super 8's phase of the 2017 season on loan at the Oldham Roughyeds where he scored one try in five appearances as the Roughyeds were relegated to League One.

Lingard was excited about the signing and said he spoke to Bradford Bulls head coach John Kear about Morris before signing him.

Lingard said: "Ben has a great pedigree and I spoke to John about him after he had him in the World Cup with Wales.

"We have had some outgoings over the past couple of weeks and it has left us disjointed.

"We are looking for quality, rather than quantity.

"I am looking to add another body after the Bank Holiday weekend."

One departure from Cougar Park was Joe Lumb who has moved to Australia.

The former Bradford Bulls player was released from his Cougars contract and has joined Albury Thunder, based in New South Wales.

Lumb, a former Cougars Reserve, returned to the club from Odsal ahead of the 2018 season and made his debut, and only appearance, for the club in the 54-6 defeat to the Bradford Bulls a fortnight ago.

Gavin Reed, a Scotland Students international, has also been released by Cougars. He joined the Cougars Reserves team from Leeds Beckett University last year and went on to make his first team debut later that same season in the Super Eights victory over York City Knights.

He made a further two appearances for the club’s first team during the Super Eights in the draw against Toronto and defeat away at Whitehaven and has opted to depart the club to sign with Dewsbury Celtic.

Meanwhile, North Wales Crusaders, who knocked Cougars out of this season's Challenge Cup, have announced the departure of head coach Mike Grady.

Grady took charge of the Wrexham-based League 1 club at the end of the 2016 season and led them to the 2017 league cup final against Barrow but they have won just one of their opening three matches of the 2018 campaign.