Kingstone Press League 1 Preview: Keighley Cougars v York City Knights

Paul March, the Keighley Cougars coach, is expecting a challenging contest.

“It will be a tough game, they were table toppers last year and they’ll want to replicate that,” he said.

“We’ve only got one goal now to aim for, having been knocked out of both the Challenge Cup and the iPro Sport Cup, so everything focuses on the league.

“These last couple of weeks have been a mini-pre-season for us. We’ve trained well and are looking forward to the challenge ahead.”

York City Knights coach James Ford said the start of league action will be a welcome distraction from the problems the club have had in finding a permanent home ground.

“Pre-season has been disjointed but luckily for me and my coaching team the players have been fantastic,” he said.

“Regardless of where we’ve trained they’ve turned up, trained smart and trained tough. We’re not far away, we’re not quite at the levels I wanted us to be at and the players could be at, but we’re not far off.

“It’s the start of a competition which is a primacy for us and where better to start than away to the competition’s favourites. It should be a real good yardstick for where we are – we’re all looking forward to it.”