Paul March believes the Northern Rail Cup represents a realistic hope of silverware for the Cougars this season as they battle to avoid relegation from the Kingstone Press Championship.

Keighley host Batley in the first knock-out round of the competition on Sunday and player-coach March insists they are going for a win “at all costs”.

This comes against a backdrop of his side lying second from bottom in the league table after a tough first half to the campaign.

Yet March, who could be boosted by the return of playmaker Scott Leather-barrow after a shoulder injury, said: “Staying up is the priority but the Northern Rail Cup is a competition we can win.

“It’s not like the Challenge Cup where you are going to come up against some big boys, so I think we’ve got a realistic chance.

“Obviously if we beat teams like Batley, we can look to go further in the competition and see where that takes us.

“League form doesn’t count for anything in cup competitions and I think this week will do our lads the world of good to get away from league games. They can just concentrate on knock-out football and getting a win at all costs.

“To win competitions you’ve got to beat teams like Batley, so we might as well play them now rather than later.”

The Cougars slipped to a disappointing 18-10 league defeat at Dewsbury last weekend after leading 10-4 at the break.

March felt small, individual errors cost them against Glenn Morrison’s side and is seeking an improvement against Batley.

“We are disappointed because we dominated for long periods of that game, especially in the first half when I thought our forwards were tremendous,” he said.

“Brendon Rawlins carried the ball well and James Feather took us around the park. It was very disappointing that we came out in the second half and performed like we did.

“We let little things affect us – Joe Chandler dropped the ball late on, Danny Jones kicked out on the full and Danny Lawton knocked on over the line. Individual errors cost us.”

The Cougars face a Batley side riding high in third place in the Championship and coached by former England boss John Kear, who March played under at Wakefield.

The Bulldogs beat Keighley 42-10 on the opening week of the season and March is expecting another stern test.

“John’s done a good job at Batley and I know a lot about him, having played under him at Wakefield,” he said.

“We let ourselves down in that first game. We went there expecting to do better and they did a number on us.

“We put a lot of effort in but the scoreline didn’t reflect that, so we’ve got things to improve on and points to prove against them this weekend – and we’re at home.”

March is confident there is plenty of room for improvement from his side in the coming weeks and months.

He said: “We’re second from bottom at the minute but we haven’t played well at all. We’re hoping that we’re like golfers who’ve had a bad front nine but can now have a good back nine.

“We’re hoping we can come into form and play our best stuff coming into the business end of the season as we look to try and get into the play-offs.”

Meanwhile, as well as Leatherbarrow, James Haley is also in line for another appearance following his inclusion against Dewsbury last weekend.

Haley is back at the club after a spell in Australia and March said: “I’m hoping Scott will be back this week because he’s had treatment and has come a long way.

“If he’s fit to play he’ll play. James Haley didn’t train with us before he went to Australia but he’s come back and signed a contract. It lifted everybody last week at training.”