YORK City Knights are ready to lock horns with Deswbury Rams on Sunday despite today's bombshell news of Alex Godfrey's two-year suspension for failing a random drugs test.

While the winger has launched an appeal against the ban, which is reported on today's front page, the injury saga at the club is on the wane.

It had been feared the Knights might struggle to assemble 17 fit players following a string of injuries and the loss of a number of players to non-rugby issues.

But a tentative midweek training session revealed the situation was not as bad as first thought, much to the relief of head coach Richard Agar.

Godfrey has declined to comment on the position and Agar knows he must battle on without his top try-scorer for the time being.

"We have a few injuries we needed to assess and estimate how long each of the lads are going to be out for, and we discovered that things probably are not as bad as we thought on Sunday," said the Knights coach.

"The biggest doubt is Mick Ramsden with his ankle, while Dan Briggs has got a really nasty cut to his head. He had to have stitches both inside and outside the gash and it's really ugly to look at, so we're going to leave it up to him and the physio as to whether or not he will play.

"But we will definitely have 17 players fit."

Craig Forsyth will return to the fold and new loan-signing Johnny Wainhouse will be one of the 17 names on the squad list if a slight foot injury has healed in time.

The young hooker was drafted in on a month's loan from Leeds this week to support Lee Jackson while Jimmy Elston recovers from knee surgery.

Looking further ahead, another gap has emerged for the Arriva Trains Cup semi-final at Hull KR on June 27.

Influential prop Rich Wilson, currently on loan from the National League One club, has been ruled ineligible for the tie because of a 'gentleman's agreement'.

Agar said: "When we sorted out the loan deal, we made a gentleman's agreement that in the unlikely event of us having to play them, Rich would stand down.

"Now that in the most unlikeliest of ways - especially considering the draw - it has come around, we will honour that agreement.

"It's a blow for Rich and it's a blow for us."

But he added wheels were in motion to finalise a permanent deal for Wilson, who joined the club in April.

He added: "The ball is now in their court, but I doubt we will make him permanent before the semi-final."

Warrington head coach Paul Cullen has signed a new three-year contract at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.

Cullen has transformed the Wolves from relegation candidates to play-off contenders in his two years in charge of the club.

Cullen's original deal was due to expire at the end of the season but he has now earned an extension that takes him up to 2007.

Updated: 10:50 Thursday, June 10, 2004