Batley Bulldogs and Castleford Tigers coach Craig Lingard targets double Challenge Cup delight

Lingard will lead Batley Bulldogs into Friday's tie at Hull KR before switching his attention to Castleford Tigers' home date with Hull FC on Sunday.

The 45-year-old is juggling two jobs after becoming Andy Last's assistant at Castleford, a position he will combine with his Batley commitments until the end of the year.

"It's part-time rugby so it's just like having a day job and training on a night," the Bulldogs boss told The Yorkshire Post.

"It's a slightly unique situation that my day job is at another rugby league club rather than an office or a building site."

Lingard's first challenge is a daunting one against a Hull KR outfit flying high near the top of Super League.

The Bulldogs – fifth in the Championship – have won eight of their last nine games but Lingard accepts that an exceptional set of circumstances is required for his team to progress.

"We need to be right on our best and Hull KR need to be off their best," said Lingard, whose side beat Toulouse Olympique last time out.

"I'm not naive enough to think we can go there and go set for set with them. We need things to fall our way and for all our players to be at 95-100 per cent with a bounce of the ball or a 50/50 decision here and there."

Whereas Batley have everything to play for in the league, the play-offs are a long shot for the struggling Tigers.

Castleford find themselves in an early relegation battle with Wakefield Trinity in Super League after winning just two of their opening 12 games.

Lingard is hoping the cup can breathe life into the Tigers' season.

"It's two clubs that have been trying to find that little bit of confidence and continuity," he said.

"Hull have found it over the last few weeks. Hopefully that's something we can do and use the Challenge Cup as a platform.

"When you're down at the bottom of the league and have lost a few games on the bounce, it's easy to get into a bit of a rut.

"But this is a new competition and you're three games from Wembley so there's a lot of excitement and positivity you can take from that into the league campaign."

Should everything go to plan this weekend, Lingard could find himself in a tricky situation.

He has vowed to stay loyal to Batley in the event of a quarter-final showdown between his two clubs.

"I guess we'll cross that bridge if it comes," he laughed.

"I said when I joined Castleford that the game day priorities would be in Batley's favour because I'm seeing out the season there.

"If we did both get through and came up against each other, I'd be in the Batley changing room and not the Castleford one. That's an ideal situation if both teams can get the victory."

As he prepares to swap the Championship for Super League on a full-time basis, Lingard is desperate to end his four-year spell at Batley on a high.

"We've made a semi-final appearance and a Grand Final appearance in the last couple of years," he added.

"We're 80 minutes from Wembley in the 1895 Cup so we've got that to look forward to.

"We're building a bit of momentum in the league as well so hopefully we can maintain our position in the top six and challenge for another Grand Final appearance.

"It would be nice for me and the club to put a full stop or an exclamation mark at the end of my period as a coach at Batley."