“We can’t go into the game thinking we’re going to turn up and win” - Craig Lingard issues warning to Batley Bulldogs players ahead of potential banana skin in Challenge Cup

The National Conference Premier Division outfit got their league campaign off to a flying start last weekend thanks to a 24-0 victory over York Acorn.

And Lingard believes his Championship troops can’t approach the David versus Goliath third round fixture, at the Fox’s Biscuits Stadium, as a “walkover.”

He insisted: “We can’t go into the game thinking we’re going to turn up and win. If you do that then you’re going to get bitten. Wath Brow have always been a strong amateur team. They have got some ex-pros in their ranks, so if we think we’re going into the game thinking it’s going to be a walkover then it can be a fairly painful game.

“They are a very strong NCL side, they always have been. A lot of their players will have represented Workington, Whitehaven or Barrow at some point in their career.

“Jake Moore played for England’s academy. They have got some quality in their ranks so it’s not going to be a case of turning up, putting our boots on and we score 60 points.

“It’s the old cliche - this will be their cup final. I have seen posts on their social media saying the buses are on for next week and people have been booking their places, so they will make it a really good day out for them.

“It will be like any game, if you give them some scraps at the start of the game and they feed off them then they will stay in the game for longer. So we need to start the game pretty strongly and try to quell any enthusiasm or energy they have got.”

And Batley’s head coach speaks from experience having been on the wrong end of a giant-killing act when he was a Bulldogs player in the shock 0-10 defeat at home to Oldham St Annes in 2000.

“We got beat by an amateur team in the Challenge Cup and it’s certainly not something that I want to revisit as a coach because it wasn’t a nice feeling,” he said.

He added: “We played downhill in the first half against the wind and we came out in the second half playing uphill and the wind had changed direction and it was in our face again. It was just one of those typical cup days that you don’t want - windy, rainy, sleety.”

On the injury front, Lingard confirmed that Josh Hodson should be available for selection but admitted he doesn’t “want to make too many wholesale changes because that will upset the rhythm we are trying to build.”