Batley Bulldogs entering ‘significant period’ as Craig Lingard’s side face Halifax, Toulouse and Featherstone in July

The Bulldogs face the Panthers this Sunday, July 9 (kick off 3pm) after returning to winning ways against Barrow Raiders last weekend following their defeat against London Broncos, which ended a seven-match winning run.

And with tough-looking away games quickly following at Toulouse, York and Fev, Lingard claims it was “really important” to get back on the winning trail.

“It is a really significant period for us now,” he said. “That’s why it was really important after the London defeat that we got the victory up at Barrow because we didn’t want to run into Halifax, Toulouse and Featherstone in the league on the back of two defeats.

“It was really important we got that victory and hopefully this week we can back it up against Halifax which will be a tough tie.”

He added: “They got beat last weekend and I don’t think Grixy (Simon Grix) was too pleased with how they performed.

“Historically, over the last three seasons, it has been very, very rare that Halifax have followed up a bad performance with another bad performance, so we need to be on guard against that and expect the best Halifax that’s going to be available.”

This weekend’s game at the Fox’s Biscuits Stadium will be the third game between the two sides already this season, with Fax claiming a 20-16 victory at The Shay in March, and Batley making it one win apiece in their Summer Bash clash.

“Both games have been very tightly contested all the way through to the end,” Lingard observed. “It’s not been a dominant fixture for either of us but they are always fairly exciting and good contests to watch.

“Hopefully it will be another exciting one to watch and hopefully we come out on the right side.”

Former Bulldogs star Luke Hooley returned to the starting line-up in last weekend’s 12-6 triumph at Barrow having been signed on dual registration status from Super League giants Leeds Rhinos.

And Lingard is hopeful the full-back can be made available in the coming weeks during these juicy July fixtures. He said:

“It’s a week-by-week basis because we’ve managed to get him on dual reg status. Hopefully we can have him for some significant time. He is still Leeds’ player and they have the say in what they do for Luke’s development but hopefully they see playing in the Championship week in and week out is going to be better for his development than playing in the reserves every other week.

“If Leeds need him he is their player and they’ll call him back but certainly over the next month or so I am hoping that we can give him a run in our team and hopefully he improves us.”

Lingard also confirmed that Elliot Kear (knee) could be out for a couple of months depending on the results of an assessment, while Aidan McGowen missed last Sunday’s win due to an ankle injury. Adam Gledhill and Tom Lillycrop, however, could return.