CRAIG Lingard believes Cougars can continue to be one of the fittest teams in League One, especially if they keep the ball better.

With head of strength and conditioning Paul Royston getting his squad in shape again, the Keighley head coach believes his squad will be well primed for battle next season.

However, he has urged his team to build on that by being more sensible in possession.

He said: "I think we showed last year against full-time Toronto that, certainly when we played them at home, we were the stronger team coming up towards the end of the game.

"Paul does get the boys fit but if you're looking after the ball, you're always going to be a lot fitter because you're not defending as much.

"We looked at games last year where we struggled and found we were completing at around 45 per cent, which isn't good enough.

"It's going to impact on your fitness levels if you're doing that much defending.

"It comes hand in hand. If you're fit and strong, which Paul will make sure the guys are, we've also got to be sensible with the ball. We've got to execute correctly in order to maintain that fitness we have got."

Pre-season is back in full swing now, and for the Cougars that includes one session a week at Bradford Grammar School.

And Lingard is pleased to be using their facilities to boost fitness sessions, while also preserving Cougar Park.

He said: "The facilities (at BGS) are brilliant. The gym is spot on and it's a 3G all weather pitch.

"I don't think the guys are too happy with the amount of rowers and spin bikes – they will certainly be getting their money's worth out of them!

"It's not only important for us to get the resources that they've got, but also to try and look after our pitch as much as we can too," Lingard added.

"We're going to try do a bit of renovation on that to make it a better quality surface for us to play on.

"So it's important that we go and look elsewhere to train, and give it a bit of a rest."