KEIGHLEY Cougars make their third trip to Barrow in two months on Sunday when they face the Raiders in the quarter-finals of the League One Cup (2.00).

Previous 2017 trips to the JF Hornby Stadium have both resulted in defeats, with a 48-14 pre-season friendly setback on February 5 being followed by a 20-0 loss in the fourth round of the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup on March 18.

However, Cougars coach Craig Lingard was given hope that they could avoid a third straight defeat in Cumbria by the first-half display last Sunday at home to Kingstone Press League One title favourites Toronto Wolfpack.

Keighley even had the temerity to lead the Brighouse-based Canadians 15-8 at Cougar Park, and Lingard's chief disappointment was that they didn't back up their first-half showing with an equally good second half against the full-timers, who won 48-21.

However, he could take some comfort from the performances of their man of the match, second-row forward Josh Lynam, who was pushed hard for the honour by scrum half Matty Beharrell.

Lingard said of Lynam: "Josh was great. I was pleased that he went over for two tries and put Matty in for a try as well.

"He has an all-round work ethic, he was great in defence and his work often goes unnoticed.

"I want our right-hand edge to be a bit more dynamic, and they did that (against Toronto)."

As for Beharrell, Lingard said: "If Matty is on his game then he is as good as anyone in the division, and the Championship as well.

"I have said all along that we have a good calibre of players down here. It is just about putting it all together.

"The jigsaw is just about complete but we are learning things every week.

"Lessons will come along every now and again and we have to learn from them. There was another lesson on Sunday in that we were in a commanding position."

Lingard also gave a debut to centre Josh Casey, and said: "Josh did okay and it was just unfortunate that he was the one that missed the tackle on their line which was a game-changer."