Keighley Cougars’ top eight ambitions for League One could be buried in west Cumbria over the next fortnight.

For after visiting the Recreation Ground to take on Whitehaven this Sunday, they return a week later to tackle Workington Town at Derwent Park.

They are currently seventh in the table, level on points with Town but having a superior points differential.

But the Cougars suffered a set-back at the weekend when they lost 25-18 at home to York City Knights.

Coach Craig Lingard blamed an abject first-half display for the defeat, claiming some of his players just lost their composure in a feisty game.

“We have two tough games coming up in Cumbria but we can’t feel sorry for ourselves after losing to York," said Lingard.

“We were 22-0 down at half-time and down to 12 men after Josh Tonks was sent-off – and we had played poorly.

“But we weren’t talking about damage limitation at half-time. The aim was to go out and score the tries to win the game.

"In actual fact, we made a good go of it and our defence, despite our handicap, was great as we didn’t concede another try.

“We will have a look at the video, which might be embarrassing in the first half for some of our players, but then we will go again at Whitehaven.

“Newcastle went above us after their win on Sunday so we lost ground and need to make amends in Cumbria."

Keighley finish the regular season with a home game against Oxford and seem to be in a four-way battle for the last two places in the eights.

Meanwhile, Whitehaven coach Carl Forster will be checking the injuries at tonight’s training session as he prepares for the clash with the Cougars.

Elliott Miller, Glenn Riley and Lewis Brown both missed out against Doncaster and won’t be ready to return while several players had to receive on-field treatment in Sunday’s game.