CRAIG LINGARD is poised to make changes for Cougars' opening League One game at home to North Wales Crusaders on Sunday.

The Keighley chief did not mince his words in the aftermath of the narrow Challenge Cup win over amateurs Fryston, labelling their performance 'pathetic'.

He said: "We've won our first two competitive games which is all you can do but we need to dust ourselves off this week.

"There is likely to be some rotation as some performances weren’t quite up to the standard that we require, so others might get a chance."

"We're hoping Matty Bailey, Nathan Conroy and Adam Brook are back as soon as possible and in contention for a spot."

Ben Sagar is struggling with a hamstring injury and is set to be sidelined for several weeks.

Cougars are awaiting the results of an RFL investigation into their fiery cup encounter with Fryston but Lingard is annoyed at how his side lost their discipline.

He said: "We’ve got to be smarter and more professional and more switched on when we play teams like that.

"Whether you are playing a Super League, Championship, League One or amateur team your level should be exactly the same."

However, Lingard added: "Although we weren’t happy with the way we played on Saturday, we still came out with the win. We know we can grind it out if we need to and win ugly. I'd have been a lot more disappointed if we’d got beat."

Meanwhile, Lingard said the club were not pursuing their interest in an Aussie prop at present – recommended to them by England coach Wayne Bennett – as the player had not responded to them.