Staying in Championship remains priority for high-flying Batley Bulldogs - London Broncos stand between Craig Lingard's side and fifth successive win

Bulldogs are third in the table, with four wins from five games, going into Saturday's home clash with full-time outfit London Broncos (2pm).

Batley’s only defeats this year have both been away to Featherstone Rovers, in the Challenge Cup and round one of the league campaign.

But coach Craig Lingard insists it is far too early to start thinking about the play-offs - and he has set a target of seven wins to guarantee a Championship place for 2022.

“We will re-evaluate once we get half the fixtures done and dusted,” Lingard said.

“If it [the play-offs] is a realistic option for us, then why not? [But] we can’t look further than London.

“In terms of the play-offs, it would be nice and as long as we can keep winning games, then it is a realistic option for us.

“We will get the points on the board to make sure we don’t get relegated and then see how high we can climb.”

Tom Gilmore has been named in Batley’s squad to face London, despite suffering a calf muscle injury against Sheffield Eagles last week.

Jack Logan and Adam Gledhill drop out, with James Brown, Toby Everett, Nyle Flynn, Dominic Horn, Josh Tonks and Joe Sanderson all vying to replace them in the matchday 17.

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