Cougars have been handed a huge fillip ahead of Sunday’s trip to Gateshead with the news Luke Helliwell has not broken his leg.ahead of Sunday’s trip to Gateshead with the news Luke Helliwell has not broken his leg.

Player-coach Jason Demetriou had feared the worst for his young playmaker when he was stretchered off during last week’s win against London Skolars.

Helliwell was rushed to hospital but scans revealed he has not suffered a break and could even be back in action as soon as next week.

However, the 23-year-old will miss the Cougars’ visit to the north east and, with Demetriou also a doubt, there could be a complete change in the halves.

Paul Drake and Ryan Smith are on stand-by to rekindle a partnership trialled throughout pre-season and the Northern Rail Cup.

Demetriou said: “It’s great news, especially after the way the kid played on Sunday. He was our best player.

“He’s still got to go back today to discover the extent of the injury but I suspect it might be a bit of ligament damage. He will miss this week but could be back for the following game.

“Luke was really good even when I left the field. He still stepped up and took control, created things and looked really sharp.

“I suspect I might have a tear in my quad so if I’m not 100 per cent, I won’t play against Gateshead. There’s no point.

“But we have Drakey and Ryan Smith, who played together all through pre-season and the Northern Rail Cup and I’ve got faith in both of them.”

Despite kicking off their Champion-ship One campaign in stunning fashion, Demetriou is determined not to let his players get ahead of themselves.

As well as praising Keighley’s display in thumping Skolars 66-6, he is using the result as an example of how things could easily go wrong.

Nothing will be taken for granted, even facing a Gateshead team who found themselves on the receiving end of a 66-point blast at Oldham.

He said: “We’re confident but I think one thing proven by our result against Skolars is it’s so unpredictable.

“Nobody expected us to manage a scoreline like that and there were also a few other shocks in Championship One, so we need to use that to make sure we’re on top of our game.

“I’ve always said it’s more about how we perform rather than focusing too much on the opposition.

“If we meet the standards we’ve set for ourselves and keep getting better, we can beat anyone in this league.”

All the focus from Cougars’ season opener was unsurprisingly on the attack but Demetriou insists continued success starts with defence.

He said: “We’ve only conceded three tries in our last two games and that’s something to be proud of.

“There’s no point being able to regularly score 30 points if you concede 40 and, looking at the team last year, that seemed to be the way they were playing.

“We won’t win anything like that so I’ve asked my outside backs to be more aggressive.

“We’re forcing errors and getting results.”

Meanwhile, Cougars’ reserves take to the field at Cougar Park this evening for the visit of Featherstone Rovers (7.45pm).