Haven coach Carl Forster has revealed there could be some surprises in his starting 13 when his side kick-off their pre-season campaign against Keighley Cougars on Sunday.

Hosts Keighley prepared for the Haven clash with a heavy 82-12 win over amateur side Hunslet Warriors last weekend but Forster is confident his team will be ready.

And the player/coach will sit on the sidelines on Sunday to give himself a chance to assess his newly-assembled squad.

Forster said his starting team selection was based solely on what he had seen from the players in pre-season.

“There will be lads starting who people maybe hadn’t expected to play,” he said.

“Some of the amateur lads have massively impressed me. I’ve been fair about it and I don’t think anyone can have any complaints with my team.

“I won’t be playing, I want to give everyone a chance to get minutes and give myself a chance to watch them play.”

Three players will miss out on the first pre-season game with Karl Olstrom serving a ban, Dave Allen coming back later due to international duty and Troy Armstrong recovering from a shoulder injury.

“Everyone will get a run-out,” he said. “I’ll try to share the minutes about and do what is best for the team, but we’re going out to win.

“I want to win, some coaches say pre-season is about performance but we want to win.

“They’ve obviously got 80 minutes worth of rugby in them but we’re raring to go and their test last week wasn’t up to much. Both teams are still getting into their stride and will be pretty raw.

“I went to watch them last week, Matty Beharrell, who I’ve played with, is a good player. They’re going to be up there near the end of the season.”

Forster has four warm-up games ahead of the opening competitive game, the League Cup tie, at home to Workington Town, on February 19.

All four friendly games are away from home as Haven visit Barrow (Jan 22), Newcastle (Jan 28) and Workington (Feb 5).

Forster also admitted the decision to allow a Bradford-based team into the Championship to replace Bradford Bulls after their liquidation was unfair. But he is happy to get on with Whitehaven’s League 1 challenge.

He said: “I think everyone is singing off the same hymn sheet, it’s not fair what they have done but it’s their choice.

“It is what it is. I feel for the Bradford players and staff but it’ll all get sorted out and we’ll go back to normal life. It doesn’t concern me or the club, I’m not too fussed.”