COUGARS could have one big advantage when they take on Russian side Strela Kazan on Sunday - the Cougar Park grass.

Strela full back, Oleg Sokolov, took one at the pitch and declared: "One thing is a problem for us,the green grass. In Russia it is very cold and there is a lot of snow we could not train on grass, but we have two days to train more."

The Russian international is one of the stars of the 'Kazan Arrows' and said his team was going through a transition with a majority of young players, some just 16 and 17 years old.

"We have just three older players and the average age is 18-19 years," he said.

Oleg and his team mates flew in to Heathrow on Wednesday afternoon and he travelled to Keighley yesterday for a first look at the Powergen Challenge Cup, the most famous trophy in Rugby League.

"We played in the cup before, but did not win. Now we hope to win because we have been training a lot," he said

The team is based in the city of Kazan 600 miles east of Moscow, it is the capital city of Tatarstan an independent state in the Russian Federation. The club and national colours are red, white and green - a perfect match for the Cougar colours.

"It looks like we might have to play in the away strip," said club chairman, Mr Neil Spencer.

Earlier in the week the Keighley News joined forces with the club to give away 2,000 tickets to local schoolchildren and the Cougars are hoping for a bumper crowd to welcome the visiting team.

"We want to give the Russians a really warm Keighley welcome and make sure they remember our town. It is a marvellous opportunity for the club, for Keighley and for the people of this area.

"I hope we can help to give rugby league in Russia a boost," Mr Spencer said.

Tatarstan's assistant Minister for Sport, Deamir Zakirov, has travelled with the Strela Kazan team and will be a senior guest at the match on Sunday.

The Keighley club's community programme has been given a huge boost with Matt Foster being invited to meet the Prime Minister at No10 Downing Street in recognition of the work he is doing in schools.

He received the personal invitation to join other Young Community Leaders at a reception in London on Monday.

"It is a fantastic honour, not just for me, but for the whole club and everyone who works to put the community programme in place," Foster said.

Rugby League officials were also delighted with the news.

"Matt does a fantastic job and this is a great honour for the club and for the game of Rugby League, said a spokesman at the game's headquarters in Leeds.

Cougar coach Gary Moorby is looking for an improved performance from his team after a disappointing show at Halifax last weekend.

He put the squad through a tough training programme this week and called for everyone to dig deep for the cup game.

"They are a complete unknown to us so we must treat them as a top side and prepare accordingly. I have been unable to discover anything about this team and we will be giving them the greatest respect," Moorby said.