Lingard demands greater consistency as Sheffield Eagles target third straight win at Salford
Sheffield Eagles are targeting three wins on the spin when they take on Salford this weekend
Sheffield Eagles head coach Craig Lingard spoke earlier this week about how his side is shaping up after two consecutive wins, and what is needed from his Eagles if they are going to secure a victory against Salford this Sunday (3pm KO).
The Eagles are coming off the back of a toughly fought win against Dewsbury Rams a fortnight ago, but with inconsistent form throughout their season so far, Craig's main concern is ensuring they can maintain this momentum in the run up to the playoffs. He commented, "I've said the previous few weeks that we'd identified the run of five or six games that we've got and we have identified that we wanted to get on a run of games there where we're consistently winning games.
"We've got two out of two so far and it's now going for three out of three this weekend which is going to be tough.
"But yeah, there were periods of the game where I thought we were a little bit loose, periods of the game where I thought offensively we were very good. Certainly the period after halftime where I thought we managed both sides of the game pretty well.
"We completed our sets well, defended tough and physically and restricted them coming out of their own 20 metre area and then got rewards on the back of that with the field position and executed some really good tries.
"So there are some really good areas to work with that were with ball in hand but a little bit desperate with the defensive defensive element of the game in the first half."
Providing his analysis of what elements of Sheffield's game needs to be refined in order to push his team to a more comfortable position in the Betfred Championship table, Craig remarked, "I think it should be a bit more consistency for a little bit longer. I thought we started the game last time pretty well.
"We started well for the first sort of 15 minutes of the second half too, but I want us to be a little bit more consistent for a longer period of time.
"It's impossible to go 80 minutes and be perfect all the way through the game, both sides of the ball. But the longer that you can be excellent for, then the more chance you've got to win the game.
"And I just think we need to extend those periods where we're good and reduce the periods where we're a little bit little bit loose at times. So I think a bit more consistency for longer periods of the game is what we're looking for."
Salford RLFC will be the Eagles' opponents this Sunday, and despite the team being a phoenix club that rose up this season from the liquidation of the Salford Red Devils, it seems they have started to find their feet towards the latter stages of this campaign. Praising his opponents, Craig stated, "It's a team that are on the up, you know, the way they were at the start of the season after the trials and tribulations that they had coming back as a brand new team, getting a few bad defeats at the start of the season.
"But I think, Dave Hewitt's gone in there as coach and it's been announced this week he's staying there next year as well, which I think is well deserved for him.
"But they've improved, I think, week on week, and they might not have got the results week on week, but I think performance-wise and attitude wise, the way that they stick in there, the way that they play, I think he's developed a real good team.
"And they've won last week against North Wales and the week before that lost by two points against a very good Barrow team, so we know it's going to be a tough task going over there.
"It's a great stadium, a nice pitch to play on and it looks like it's going to be a hot day again so it's got all of the makings of a good contest."
Speaking further on the elements of Salford's team that the Eagles are going to have to look out for, Craig added, "Brad Dwyer has been around for a number of years now being absolute quality.
"Keiran Dixon came from Oldham and Jack Bibby as well who played Super League at Huddersfield, you know, so there's quality players in there.
"A lot of these players have come through some really good systems in Super League and not played much first team rugby up until this year, but they're getting better week on week with the games that they're playing against Championship players.
"So they're developing week on week and you can see in the consistent performances that they're now starting to put together.
"They're playing some decent stuff, they are a threat. They scored 20 odd points against us last time we played them at at Sheffield where I thought we pulled away in the game but again we got a little bit loose in the second half and then they came back and we end up winning by just two scores.
"So we know they're a team that can cause us problems but we need to make sure we concentrate on the stuff that we can do and hopefully cause them a few problems as well."
With injury troubles plaguing the Eagles' season for the majority of this year, supporters of the club will be happy to know that Connor Fitzsimmons could be making his return to the team sheet after 4 months of being on the sidelines. Discussing Connor's return, and also the potential returns of other players in the near future, Craig stated, "I don't think we'll be missing anybody from the previous game.
"I think Connor Fitzsimmons will be back this week. He started full training last week, so he's got another week's worth of full training this week. So I'm sure that Fitz will be putting his hand up to play. He'll be chewing at the bit after being out for so long. And it's nice to have him back in the squad now fit and available and ready.
"It's nice to have people like Jack Bussey back as well who has not been playing for a couple of months, but having him back in there the last couple of games has been great.
"Josh Hodson, we thought might be missing with a medical appointment that's been cancelled until after the season now.
"So, you know, we're looking a little bit better. We've got bit more strength in depth to choose from than we've had for a number of weeks. So I think in terms of bodies available we're probably in a pretty decent position, as I said the best that we've been for a number of months."
He added, "I think Masi Matongo is still going to be probably a couple of weeks away.
"Lewis Peachey we'll have a look at. It's a first session back for Peachey. So we'll have a look at him and I think with the bodies that we've got back if there's any sort of doubt or danger with Peachy rushing back we'll not consider him but we'll see how it goes this week of training."
With players returning to the squad, there will now be an opportunity for competition for places in the team, which will allow Craig to choose his side based on quality rather than necessity. Craig said, "I think the way that we started the season I think we were four out of four or five out of five at the start and as we were learning as as a new team, the team remained pretty consistent in those first sort of four or five games and I think that was as a result of the competition that we had for people wanting to get in.
"There was that sort of competition and challenging each other within training. We've not had that for a number of weeks now where it's been pretty much the same sort of 19-20 players to select from.
"Some of those 19 or 20 players have been sort of 50%-75% fit and struggling through games.
"But we've now freshened up a little bit. I think this week off has come at again at a good time. Players have been away with the family for a few days and letting their hair down a little bit and just relaxing and coming back now fully prepared for this last run of games up until the playoffs."
With their campaign not far off being over, securing the 2 points will be the only important factor to ensure that the Eagles can make it to the playoffs, and compete for some silverware. Craig remarked, "That's what we're aiming for.
"The players are in decent spirits today after not seeing each other for a week and we know that Salford played last week but they'll be developing that consistency and performance as well.
"So hopefully we can put in a real good performance but it's the win that we're looking for.
"You know, as I said last week against Dewsbury, it wasn't a great performance all the way through the game, but the important thing at this time of year is getting the victories and hopefully we can get three out of three."