Championship club Batley have appointed their record try-scorer Craig Lingard as their new head coach.

The 42-year-old, who scored 142 tries in 2016 appearances for the Bulldogs from 1998-2008 and was assistant coach under John Kear, takes over from Matt Diskin, who parted company with the club earlier this week.

Lingard was coach of Keighley before being sacked in May.

Batley have also brought back former head coach Karl Harrison, who guided them to Northern Rail Cup success in 2010, as consultant adviser to the coaching staff.