COUGARS blast into the National League season with an Easter double-header against Hunslet tonight and London Skolars at Cougar Park on Easter Monday.

Despite going out of the Arriva Trains Cup, thanks to a poor refereeing decision at Batley, coach Gary Moorby is certain they are going to be strong contenders in the league, but the team has suffered a massive injury blow with influential forward Phil Stephenson likely to miss both Easter matches.

He suffered a shoulder injury at Batley's Mount Pleasant ground and medics were still trying to diagnose the extend of the injury yesterday.

"At worst he may have damaged a cartilage or ligaments, or at best it may be badly jarred. He is booked in for a precautionary scan at the Yorkshire Clinic to see the extent of the damage," Moorby said.

On the plus side Ian sinfield and Chris Wainwright should be available and paul Ashton has recovered from flu.

With the two games following in quick succession Moorby is likely to utilise all his first team squad over the weekend. He knows it is important to get the league campaign off to a flying start and will be looking to repeat the 21-8 victory recorded the last time the sides met when they travel to South Leeds Stadium to take on Hunslet Hawks tonight.

"The Arriva Cup has given us the opportunity to prepare well for the league programme, which has always been our main priority.

"I feel we are ready to go and we are looking forward to going to Hunslet and, hopefully, getting our first league points of the season in the bag."

But Moorby conceded that the club's away form needed to improve if they are to be contenders for promotion at the end of the season. Although a poor refereeing decision cost them a vital try at Batley, he could not have been happy with the way his side collapsed in the closing minutes of the game.

The way they let in three late tries shows that they still need to develop the mental toughness needed to be a really classy team.

"Our away form needs to improve if we are to improve our ambitions of reaching the play-offs. The trip to the South Leeds Stadium is an ideal opportunity to start on a positive note away from Cougar Park.

"No doubt Hunslet will still be smarting from their recent defeat by us and will be looking for revenge, but if we perform to our capabilities we fear no one," he said.

After two physical games against the Hawks, tonight's game promises to be another tough encounter. They will have to bounce back ready for their third encounter of the year with London Skolars, a team which is improving all the time.

"We had a comfortable victory at Cougar Park a few weeks ago, but they gave us a tougher contest in the Capital more recently.

"I will be asking for a professional display from the players and if they do as they are asked I'm confident we can take the points."

The coach was disappointed with the final 40-16 scoreline from the defeat at Batley.

"I just could not believe the final score. I had asked the players to show some character playing up the slope in the second half. I wanted them to take the game to Batley, and their response was tremendous, the game could have gone either way right up until the closing stages.

"Anybody looking at the final score would think we had been hammered, but that was definitely not the case," he said.

n A supporters' coach will be travelling to Hunslet tonight. It is due to leave Cougar Park at 6pm and will cost £5. Details are available from Richard Greasley on 07810-261226.