SHEFFIELD EAGLES coach Craig Lingard (pictured) says he’ll be ignoring Barrow Raiders’ most recent result as he prepares his side for another elimination tie, this time in Cumbria, in stage two of the Championship play-offs on Sunday.

Paul Crarey’s side crashed 72-0 in their qualifying semi-final at Doncaster, where they had won 36-12 in a league match in March.

With eight of the original ten play-off teams still involved, Doncaster now visit Championship Leaders’ Shield winners London Broncos on Sunday in one of two qualifying ties (it’s at the Cherry Red Records Stadium at Wimbledon).

In the other, Newcastle Thunder, who finished second and like London, sat out stage one, host Widnes Vikings at Blaydon on Saturday.

The winners of each of those games goes straight through to stage four, which features the two preliminary finals which will determine the make-up of the Grand Final.

The Barrow versus Sheffield clash at the Speed Competitions Stadium is one of two elimination ties, the other being Sunday’s meeting of Oldham and Midlands Hurricanes at Boundary Park.

Sheffield won 25-18 at home to Lingard’s old club Batley Bulldogs in their first elimination clash.

Noting Barrow’s result, he told the club’s TV channel: “I don’t think that’s anything like a true reflection of them. We always expect and prepare for the best version of Barrow, and that’s a good team.

“They will be hurting, and we will have to be wary of a possible backlash.”

Play-offs Week Two
Qualifying final 1: London Broncos v Doncaster (Sunday 3.00).
Qualifying final 2: Newcastle Thunder v Widnes Vikings (Saturday, 5.00).
Elimination final 1: Oldham v Midlands Hurricanes (Sunday, 2.00).
Elimination final 2: Barrow Raiders v Sheffield Eagles (Sunday, 3.00).
Week Three
Winners of qualifying final 1 & 2 through to home preliminary (semi) finals.
Sudden death 1: Highest-ranked loser of qualifying finals v lowest-ranked winner of elimination finals.
Sudden death 2: Lowest-ranked loser of qualifying finals v highest-ranked winner of elimination finals.
Week Four
Preliminary final 1: Highest-ranked qualifying final winners v lowest-ranked sudden death winners,
Preliminary final 2: Lowest-ranked qualifying final winners v highest-ranked sudden death winners.
Week 5
Grand Final: Highest-ranked winner of preliminary finals v lowest-ranked winner of preliminary finals.