For the first time this season Keighley Cougars head coach Barry Eaton will be able to pick from almost his full first-tam squad as he prepares for Sunday’s Co-operative Championship One game against Rochdale Hornets at Cougar Park (kick off 3.00pm).

Loose forward Greg Nicholson is recovering well from a slipped disc in his back and successfully went through a full contact training session on Tuesday.

Eaton said: “We’ll assess the situation with Greg again when we train tonight (Thursday) and if he’s comes through without any ill effects then he’ll almost certainly be in the 17 to face the Hornets.”

The only member of the first-team squad not available to Barry is prop Brendon Rawlins who is still in Australia awaiting the completion of his visa arrangements with the UK Border Agency.

Added Eaton: “It’s a real selection headache for me but that’s something that we’ve needed at the club for some time.

“There’s serious competition for first-team places now and some players will have to play for their places.”

Those members of the first-team squad not selected for duty against Rochdale will have to stake their claim for Eaton’s attention via the reserve team that plays at Barrow Raiders on Saturday.

“We’ve got some good young players coming through the reserves,” said Eaton. “Players like Ben Sagar have already had a taste of first-team action thanks to the injury situation and that’s going to be good for him as well as the club in the long run.

“There are other players in the reserve team like Luke Sutcliffe, James Haythornthwaite and Dan Belcher who have made an impact this season and I expect them to be knocking on the first-team door fairly soon”.