Paul March believes Keighley Cougars are better prepared for the start of the Kingstone Press Championship than they were last season.

The league fixtures for 2014 were announced on Monday, with Keighley beginning the campaign at home to Whitehaven on February 16 before trips to Doncaster and newly-promoted Rochdale Hornets.

Cougars had a dreadful start to 2013 after losing their first six matches before a 34-0 home win to now-relegated York. But March thinks that the fixture list has been a lot kinder to him this season.

He said: “It looks like a good start for us because all of the top four teams from last year are spread evenly throughout the season.

“Last year, we had a really tough start and it didn’t help that I was bringing in a completely new structure as well. This year, though, I think we certainly have the squad to cope with this start.

“We’ve signed some quality players and haven’t had the sweeping changes that we did last year.

“We came in for pre-season on November 19 and all the players have come back in good shape. They were all tested back in October to make sure that they’re up to speed, which they were, and they’ll be tested again at the end of the month.”

Meanwhile, March is unhappy with plans to put the restructuring of Super League on hold.

It was expected that the top flight would split into two divisions in 2015, with Keighley set to play for a place in the new second tier this coming season, but the situation remains unclear.

March added: “We can only play with the cards that we’ve been dealt but the whole scenario has become a bit of a farce really.

“We’re in November and we still don’t really know what we’re playing for next season. But whether it’s Super League II or not, we’ll just be looking to get in the top eight first and foremost.

“If we cement a place in the top eight early on then we’ll look to build further but that has to be our priority.”

Cougars have also announced their preliminary pre-season fixture list. With six games in total, including a traditional match-up against Halifax, March is hoping to give all his squad decent preparation for the new campaign.

“It gives us the chance to have a lot of swapping and changing and to give all the lads game-time,” he said.

“Chris Watson has come into the first-team squad this year and he’s only 17, so it will be good for him to get a few games under his belt.”

Cougars preliminary pre-season fixtures: Halifax, away, Jan 5; Rochdale Hornets, home, Jan 12; Barrow Raiders, away, Jan 19; Dewsbury Rams, home, Jan 26; Keighley Amateurs, home, Feb 2; Batley Bulldogs, away, Feb 9.