PRE-MATCH INTERVIEW | Craig Lingard | Salford R.L.F.C (H)

23/04/2026

Craig Lingard is looking for a response from his Sheffield Eagles side as they aim to end a three-game losing run this weekend against Salford.

Defeats to Doncaster, London and Rochdale in recent weeks in the Betfred Championship and 1895 Cup have left the Eagles searching for a return to winning form, with Lingard hoping his side can turn things around at the Steel City Stadium this Sunday (3pm KO).

The Eagles have added experience in the halves this week with the loan signing of Jordan Abdull from Widnes Vikings, and Lingard will be hoping the new arrival can help steady the ship as they face Salford.

“I’m really pleased to get Jordan (Abdull) in, we said previously when Jordan Lilley got injured that we needed to get a bit of experience in at half-back,” said Lingard.

“He is an outstanding player, who has played at the highest level in Super League and internationally too. I know he’s got all the credentials you need in a half back.

“Bringing him in is a huge boost for us at this moment in time having come off the back of three disappointing results, where I felt we lost a bit of leadership and guidance in the final quarter of the field.

“I think it will give the team a great lift knowing we have someone coming in with his calibre in to guide us around the field.

“It’s a big ask when you’ve got two young halves in Kai (Morgan) and Lennie (Ellis) to guide a team around in a tough Championship competition, but right now, we need an experienced half back, someone who has got that game knowledge and vision, a calm-head and a great kicking game.

“It’s an ideal opportunity for both Kai and Lennie to learn off an experienced half, see how he sees things and reads the game, thinks attacking-wise and knows how to end sets. We’d expect them to both pick his brains in training.

“From what I saw from Jordan (Abdull) on Tuesday, he’s very confident in his own ability, comfortable with the players in around him, and he stepped in straight away and really started dominating.”

Whilst hopeful that the arrival of Abdull will give the side a lift, he is also looking for a stronger all-round performance from the Eagles this weekend.

Sheffield led Rochdale for over fifty minutes in last Sunday’s 1895 Cup first-round tie, but four second half tries turned the contest on its head and saw Lingard’s side exit the competition.

He will now be targeting improvements in key areas ahead of this weekend’s fixture against Salford.

“We always do look for a response after a defeat, and I know we’ve had three of those on the bounce now in the league and cup”, added the Eagles Head Coach.

“The one which disappointed me the most was the cup defeat last week, how we dropped off in the last twenty minutes having led in that game. Defensively we did look frail at times when Rochdale attacked.

“I thought ball in-hand against Rochdale was decent, coming out of yardage and getting into good ball positions weren’t really an issue for us, it was just what we did and didn’t do in the final third.

“We did look toothless at time, some of our last tackle plays were ordinary and we didn’t challenge them (Rochdale).

“We previewed Rochdale from not only the last time we played them, but from their recent games as well, they didn’t really handle being challenged through the middle on the line and we didn’t really test that at all, we just seemed to take the short-side options and it was pretty toothless.

“I said at the start of the year about how good defensively I thought we were, Matty Marsh played a big part in that, and up until his injury, we were only conceding around twelve points on average in a game, so taking someone of Marshy’s ability out of the squad has had a really big impact on us.

“I’d expect with bringing in Jordan (Abdull), that you’d expect that game management and our end-of-sets to be a little bit better as well.

“We need to be better defensively and stronger, especially on the edges, so again we’re looking for significant improvements on both sides of the ball.”

Last weekend, the Eagles head coach was only able to name a 20-man squad for the trip to Rochdale due to ongoing injury problems, and he admits they could be in a similar position again this weekend against Salford.

He gave an update on current player availability, with selection issues still affecting his options.

“Hopefully we will have both Jack (Bussey) and Blake (Broadbent) back for Sunday, who missed out last weekend.

“Reiss (Butterworth) also missed the game on Sunday, he didn’t train on Tuesday evening, but we’re going to have a look at him to see if he’ll be ok for the weekend.

“Kieran (Gill) and Billy (Walkley) both didn’t train on Tuesday and we’re going to have to look at them too.

We’ll probably be without Alex (Foster) this week who came off against Rochdale, and Josh (Hodson) has been struggling for a couple of weeks, and he had to pull out of training on Tuesday.

“Connor (Bower) trained for the first time earlier this week, he’s not done any contact yet so Sunday’s game might be a little bit too soon for him, but we’ll see how he responds on Thursday and Friday.

“We’ve mentioned about both Matty (Marsh) and Jordan (Lilley) being out for the season, we’re still also going to be without Conor Fitzsimmons for a while, we’re looking around June time for him. Joel (Farrell) will also probably be out for several weeks too.

“We have been working hard to try and get a couple of players in, but it’s hard when there are other clubs in the exact same situation as us where they’re wanting to get bodies in as well because their struggles with injuries.

“We’re going to be doing it tough again, people will be playing out of position again no doubt, but hopefully we’re starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel with a few of these players that have been out for a number of weeks, where we can start to bring them back into action over the next month or so.”

A victory this weekend for the Eagles could see them climb back into the Betfred Championship top six, but Lingard is aware his side cannot afford to underestimate their opponents.

Sunday’s visitors, Salford, arrive in good form, having recorded back-to-back league wins in recent weeks.

“As you’ve seen so far in this competition, if you’re not on your game, then you’re going to get beat. We’ve seen that a lot so far this season, and coming up against Salford is going to be no different.

“They’ve won back-to-back games in the Championship so they’ll be full of confidence with that, and they’ve brought in a couple of players this week from North Wales, and they could still yet bring anyone in from Super League for the game.

“It’s sometimes a bit hard to prepare for a game like Salford where you don’t know what their side will look like from one week to the next, I’ve watched their last three games and they’ve had a different side in every single one of them.

“It’s different for an oppositional coach to work out what exactly they’ll do, but I also think it’ll be hard for them to work out what we’re going to do when we’re missing so many players ourselves.

“I have noticed about Salford is that they’re enthusiastic, they work hard for each other and will play for the full eighty minutes, regardless of the scoreline. We’re going to expect them to come and challenge us, be energetic and enthusiastic.

“I’m sure they’ll play with a high tempo; they’ve got a lot of young players who will challenge us and play with no fear.

“We need to try and replicate the fast start we had against Rochdale; we need to make sure we start the game well this week and to try and withstand the fast start that Salford will be looking to have themselves.”