YORK City Knights go into tomorrow's Arriva Trains Cup quarter-final adamant that the National League Two campaign remains their priority - but that doesn't mean they'll be letting up.
That was the verdict of Aussie centre Aaron Wood on the eve of the Knights' trip to NL1 big-guns Halifax, where a win would leave Richard Agar's men just 80 minutes from a major cup final.
York go into the game beset by new injuries and absences but will call on the same Dunkirk spirit which brought them some of their best results in similar circumstances earlier in the season.
"Our main priority is getting promoted and finishing the season on a high, but that doesn't mean we will be letting up one bit tomorrow," Wood told the Evening Press.
"In every game we play I don't think any one of us takes it easy, we give 110 per cent every time."
Halifax, relegated from Super League last term, will be favourites despite a poor start to their NL1 campaign, but Wood says the Knights could relish having underdog status -- which didn't prevent them shocking Featherstone four times earlier this season, a side which beat Fax last weekend.
"Halifax have got big, strong players and many of them played Super League last year," he said. "It's going to be a real test for us but with the team we've got anything can happen.
"I don't think we'll mind going into the game as underdogs. It takes the pressure off us and we've played some of our best football when we're the underdogs. It will be a good challenge."
Wood has been in and out of the team all season but had probably his best game in a Knights shirt in the defeat of Swinton last week.
"I was a bit shocked that I got the (sponsor's) man of the match," he said. "I thought five or six players would have been worthy winners, but I'll take it. I don't know if I had that good a game but a few people have said I did and hopefully I can move on from there and I think I've still got a bit more to give to the team."
Coach Agar has been forced into a few changes to the team that beat Swinton.
Craig Forsyth has passed fit and takes his No 17 shirt, but Yusuf Sozi's ankle will not be risked, so John Smith starts at prop and Dan Briggs comes onto the bench for only his second game since March alongside Mick Ramsden, who replaces injured hooker Jim Elston.
Agar, son of former Halifax boss Alan, warned against the "Super League experience" in the home pack - which includes his ex-team-mates hooker Phil Cantillon and prop Ryan MacDonald - but was hoping his forwards would again rise to the challenge.
He said: "We don't feel like there's any pressure on us and we can enjoy ourselves, which has worked for us so far in the cups.
"We've done the hard work in getting here and we don't want it to end now, although we know it's a tough tie."
Updated: 10:16 Saturday, June 05, 2004
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