THE voices of hundreds of Knights fans travelling to Hull KR for Sunday's semi-final could be the closest thing the team get to having a 17th man.

Richard Agar found his squad stripped down to just 15 players this week as the continuing injury crisis clashed with a barrage of unavailability issues ahead of the big Arriva Trains Cup clash.

Winger Rob Kama comes in for his first game since mid-April, while Aussie Mark Stewart, who left the Knights a month ago to return down under but is yet to fly out, was called in earlier this week to take the numbers up to 16.

But the hunt for a 17th man to fill the substitutes' bench is becoming increasingly fraught and head coach Agar could be left having to choose between hamstring injury victim Dan Briggs or an empty seat.

He said: "We are hoping Dan Briggs might feel well enough to sit on the bench but that's looking particularly futile at the moment.

"There are no other players who are fit, although we will keep trying one or two avenues."

He added: "There's going to be a lot of fans there so maybe our supporters will become our 17th man."

Loan signings Rich Wilson and Johnny Wainhouse are both out of the frame, Wilson because of a gentleman's agreement that he would not play against his contracted club in the unlikely event of a match-up, and Wainhouse because he missed the Arriva Trains Cup registration cut-off point.

Alex Godfrey is suspended while injuries have also ruled out Damian Ball, Jim Elston, Chris Smith and now Mick Ramsden.

This is not the first time the Knights have been hit with a players crisis - Richie Hayes came out of retirement for the Featherstone Rovers Challenge Cup game, and Great Britain Amateur Carl Hughes made a rare appearance in the ATC group match against Batley Bulldogs.

"We seem to always save it for the cups," said Agar. "It's a shame for our big day but we have been in this position before and it has sort of spurred us on a little bit.

"But I don't think we have ever had this bad a situation before."

He added: "It's a semi-final so anything can happen on the day. We will let them worry about us.

"People will say that what we're saying is kidology but it's not. We have got 16 fit players, one of whom hasn't come near the place since he played his last game a month ago, and it's a real possibility that we'll have to play someone on the bench who is clearly not fit enough.

"They are a great bunch of players and situations like this tends to pull the fellas in even more. What we are hoping is that, as has happened in the past, the players will come together and share more of the responsibility - they all seem to grow a leg a little bit."

Squads:

Hull KR: from Lynton Stott, Craig Farrell, Paul Parker, Craig Poucher, Alasdair McClarron, Paul Mansson, Scott Thorburn, Jamie Bovil, Andy Ellis, Makali Aizue, Dale Holdstock, Tommy Gallagher, Andy Smith, Phil Hasty, Dean Andrews, Frank Watene, Paul Fletcher, Anthony Siebold.

York City Knights (probable): Nathan Graham, Austin Buchanan, Chris Langley, Aaron Wood, Scott Walker, Scott Rhodes, Danny Brough, Craig Forsyth, Lee Jackson, Yusuf Sozi, Darren Callaghan, John Smith, Simon Friend. Subs: Mark Cain, Mark Stewart, Rob Kama, Dan Briggs or AN Other.

Updated: 09:48 Saturday, June 26, 2004