GARY THORNTON has warned his York City Knights troops not to waste their wonderful win over Featherstone by crashing at anchor club Barrow today.

The much-depleted Knights produced arguably the shock of the Kingstone Press Championship season with their Good Friday win over Rovers, while the Raiders were losing in the last minute at Keighley to fall to the foot of the table.

However, while Thornton’s men have now picked up ten points from their four home games, they have secured only one on the road so far. And the head coach said: “We do need to address that (inconsistency).

“The players to a man have said there’s no point getting three points against Featherstone and then going to Barrow and playing like we did at Keighley. I think maybe it’s a mental approach. I’m hoping we learn lessons from that (the Keighley game) and make sure it doesn’t happen again and that we go to Barrow and put on a performance like we’ve done against Featherstone.”

Asked how his side could play so poorly at Cougar Park and then so well against title favourites Fev, Thornton said: “If I knew the answer to that I would be a multi-millionaire.

“Mick Ramsden and myself – we didn’t know where the performance at Keighley came from. I wasn’t surprised by (Friday’s) performance. I know we’ve got it in us.”

Thornton expected be without two stars of that Huntington Stadium show, Matt Nicholson and Sam Scott, the former now ruled out for several months as he undergoes shoulder surgery. But props Craig Potter, recent recruit Nathan Freer and, potentially, Luke Stenchion could all be back available.

Dual-reg regulars Dean Hadley and Jack Briscoe could also return if released by parent club Hull, although Danny Nicklas is set for a spell on the sidelines due to injury.

Thornton, who duly faces some selection headaches, said: “They’re never easy games up in Cumbria. Barrow have also signed Anthony Nicholson from Leigh, who’s a good player.

“It’s a tough challenge and the long journey adds to that but we’ve got to be professional and deal with these things.

“Winning breeds confidence. The boys have got to go there really confident – but not over-confident, and learn the lessons from Keighley.”