Gunney comes for talks with Cougars.

Hunslet Hawks back rower Karl Gunney will be coming to Cougar Park tomorrow evening (Tuesday) for talks about a move to Keighley Cougars on a one-year deal.

He has opted not to stay at the South Leeds Stadium and he has been linked with the Cougars for several weeks.

Barry Eaton, the Keighley Cougars Head Coach, said: “Karl’s coming down for a chat about joining us.

“We’re looking a bit light in the forwards with Brendon Rawlins’ work permit still not with us and Carl Hughes out with his knee ligament injury until late next month.

“Karl was nominated as the National League Two Young Player of the Year and that underlines his quality as a player.

“We’re considering giving him an opportunity and he has indicated that he would like to join us.”

Eaton was disappointed with the manner of Cougars’ 16-14 Northern Rail Cup defeat at the hands of Blackpool Panthers on Sunday.

“I wasn’t so much disappointed with losing to Blackpool who are a vastly improved team,” he aid. “But I was disappointed with the way in which played.

“Our ball security was poor and that put us under pressure.

“By giving the ball away so often we spent far more time than we should have defending close to our own line.

“We didn’t look as sharp as we did against Gateshead Thunder on Tuesday evening and some of the players failed to carry on in the same vein as they did against Thunder.

“Whether the five-day turn round damaged us is not clear but it didn’t help, that’s for sure”.

Eaton will name his squad for Sunday’s home Northern Rail Cup tie against Hunslet Hawks on Thursday so that the selected players can train together on Thursday evening and Friday.

Back row forward Will Cartledge suffered a hamstring strain against Blackpool and he will have a fitness test on Thursday evening.

Prop forward Craig Brown, who was ruled out of the Blackpool game with work commitments is also a doubtful starter for the Hunslet game.