Bizarre setback for York forward

Mark Applegarth and Chris Thorman could return for York but Paul Stamp (knee) is unlikely to play.

Chris Clough is suspended for four matches while Richard Blakeway has suffered a bizarre setback. Director of rugby Dave Woods explained: “Richard was walking with his wife, turned around to talk to her and twisted his knee again.”

York lost 44-34 at Rochdale last week, with Woods admitting: “It was frustrating.”

He added: “We did some really good stuff and made some of our tries look really easy, but then we gave some soft tries away.

“A couple of blokes are having to do extra work for others that aren’t doing their own job. That means those blokes get tired, come up with an error or two and then it snowballs. We need blokes that want to be there.”

Dave Best and Lee Marsh remain up to three weeks away from a return to action for Blackpool.

Coach Martin Crompton gave his side a week off last week. He said: “We’ve got a serious month ahead, so I gave them the opportunity to recharge their batteries.

“We’ve got York, Oldham, Hunslet and Swinton all away in the next four weeks – it doesn’t get any tougher.

“It could be a month that defines our season and that’s how we’re looking at it.”

On the Knights, Crompton said: “York have been a bit hit and miss but they’re capable of producing the goods, so we’ve just got to make sure we turn up and perform at the levels we have been doing.”