CRAIG Lingard has accused his Keighley Cougars team of playing dumb rugby during their 28-6 defeat at Barrow Raiders in the League One Cup quarter-final.

Cougars' head coach said of their third defeat at the JF Hornby Stadium this season: "I am massively disappointed. It is an opportunity missed.

"The first 40 minutes was some of the dumbest rugby we have played all year.

"We gave ourselves a mountain to climb at 16-0 down at half-time.

"We were not smart enough and were the masters of our own downfall.

"We went 10-0 down and thought that we had to start chasing the game early on.

"We started to go wide before we were playing through (the middle), and you cannot go wide against a defence that is coming up and meeting you.

"You have to go through and get a quick ruck and make it difficult for them, but we didn't.

"We were going wide off slow rucks and first and second plays and it was easy to defend against.

"In the second half, yes we tested them a little bit but it is just smartness that we need to get into our game.

"We lacked a bit against Toronto the previous week and it is another lesson that we need to learn."

Lingard confessed that he wanted his leaders to take charge last weekend.

He added: "We put the players into game-type situations in training, with defensive sets and repeat sets with full contact, but it is just about doing it in match situations, and that is where you look to your leaders to stand up.

"Your main men need to take the game by the scruff of the neck, and we are not doing that against the big teams.

"You can get away with it in some games but in others you can't, and these are the games that you can't get away with."

Lingard will not be tempted to rotate his squad, as other clubs have done, when they return to league action on Sunday at Hemel Stags.

He said: "We will be going with our strongest team, which is what we have done for the past three weeks.

"I am not going to say to the lads who have slogged their guts out these last three weeks, going up to Barrow twice and (playing against) Toronto, that I am going to give them a rest.

"Obviously we are going to look at our team performance-wise but we will be going with our strongest team."

One doubt could be Will Milner, who was injured just before half-time at Barrow.

Lingard said: "Will will have to go through the return to play protocol, but hopefully he will be all right to play."