PAUL March has expressed his delight after the signatures of Oliver Pursglove and Gavin Duffy were confirmed this week.

The back-rower and winger have been important members of the Cougars squad in the past and March believes they can play key roles in helping Keighley bounce back to the Championship at the first attempt following relegation.

The player coach said: “Olly was player of the year two seasons ago. With his (work) commitments this year, things were a bit hit and miss but it’s great that he’s on board for next year.

“He’s a real 100 per-center and does a lot of the unnoticed stuff which spectators don’t see – he’s a coach’s dream.”

Duffy’s opportunities were limited last season, which saw him go out on loan to Hunslet Hawks, but next season could be a big one for the winger, who is hoping to be granted a testimonial for his decade of service at Cougars.

March said: “Gav was unfortunate last year in that we had two good wingers in Paul White and Richie Barnett.

“But he has shown he is a try-scoring machine when given the opportunity and he will get that next season.”

With homegrown hooker Sean Kelly and utility Matt Bailey also penning new deals, March has 25 players signed up and is hoping for one more key addition in stalwart James Feather.

The long-serving former captain signed for newly-promoted Championship outfit Hunslet but then admitted he had made a mistake and wants to return to Cougar Park.

Cougars began pre-season training on Tuesday and Feather was set to take part as he waits for a breakthrough on the impasse regarding his contract situation.

March added: “I’m hopeful it will get sorted and I’m sure Hunslet and James will want the matter sorted as soon as possible. If he had come and spoken to me, I think we could have ironed things out.

“But he’s been to see a therapist at the RFL and he knows he wants to be at Cougars, so I’m happy to have him back as long as things get sorted.

“There are other clubs releasing players without compensation fees at the moment but, like Buster said, he has not been one of Hunslet’s players.

“Hunslet haven’t put any time and effort into him and Buster has admitted he made a mistake.

“Until he has put pen to paper on a contract with Keighley Cougars, we can’t announce that he has signed for us.

“He can train with us at the moment but once it comes to December 1, his old contract runs out and he won’t be insured to do so.”

March is confident his side can fashion a positive response to their controversial relegation and push hard for an immediate return to the Championship.

He said: “Having kept most of the squad together, there is a feeling that we can kick on from what we did last season.

“We put ourselves in a position this year where it was in our hands but we let it slip in one or two games late on which proved our downfall.

“We’ve got to learn from that and set our stall out because people are going to regard us as one of the best sides in the league.

“Therefore we shouldn’t sit back and disappoint them – we need to come out and show what we’re made of.

“It’s not going to be easy so we need to make sure that we prepare well, which we are going to do.

“It’s going to be a big pre-season and a lot of it will be down to fitness and making sure we are ready for battle.

“We’re only going to have three players come into the squad who haven’t played with us before, so it won’t be long before they are up to speed.

“The main focus will be making sure everyone is fit and well and ready to go.”