SHEFFIELD EAGLES boss Craig Lingard, who once appeared on the vocabulary-testing TV show Countdown, has borrowed a word from a former football manager as he continues to prepare his reshaped squad for the challenge of the new merged second tier.

Iain Dowie memorably coined the term bouncebackability in the 2003-04 season when describing how his Crystal Palace team had gone from the fringes of relegation in December to winning promotion to the Premier League through the play-offs in May.

After Sheffield finished a distant eleventh in the old-style Championship in a testing first season at the helm for Lingard, he is plotting a big improvement – and trying to add a healthy dose of resilience and character as well as attacking flair.

The ex-Castleford chief was encouraged by the progress made on that front during the pre-Christmas run-out at Keighley, where the South Yorkshire side won 26-22.

And Lingard wants more of the same when the Eagles visit another of his old clubs Batley on Sunday – a week before their first league game away to Whitehaven.

“It was really pleasing that some of the stuff we have been concentrating on, like how to deal with setbacks during matches, is paying off,” he said.

“We have been looking at how to bounce back when certain things happen – and at Keighley, I thought the lads did that really well.

“There were plenty of things we still need to do plenty of work on, but for a first warm-up game with a lot of new players, I was pleased.

“We got through a tough game against tough opponents who work really hard, and we will face more of that when the league gets going.”

Lingard hopes fullback Matty Marsh and forwards Marcus Green and Alex Foster will face Batley after missing the Keighley clash.

And trialist backs Jamie Cooke and Harley Saunders, both plucked from rugby union, could be given a further chance to impress.

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