YORK City Knights RL Club boss Richard Agar has stressed that Rob Kama remained a valued player at Huntington Stadium despite signing another winger.

The 27-year-old Fijian has seen his first-team chances restricted in recent weeks after an injury-hit opening to the season was followed by a poor display in the defeat to Hunslet last month.

The Knights this week signed Leeds academy winger Austin Buchanan, and with Alex Godfrey and Chris Smith still to come back from injury, Kama, a crowd favourite last season, could find himself further down the pecking order.

But Agar said: "He's still part and parcel of the squad. Unfortunately for Rob there were some errors in his game which led to him being left out while the players who have come in have done a good job."

Agar was hoping to have hamstring injury victims Godfrey and second-row Tom Andrews available for the Knights' next game, at home to Gateshead a week tomorrow, leaving only Smith of the Knights squad on the treatment table awaiting an arthroscopy on his knee.

Godfrey had tonsilitis last week meaning his injury could not be properly assessed, and Agar said: "This extra week off will help and he should be back in contention for next week. Tom Andrews should be back in contention also, although we've thought this before with Tom and he's pulled it again."

Back-row Damian Ball is also likely to be fully recovered from a dead leg which forced his early exit from Sunday's win at Barrow.

The Knights chief admitted risking Ball that day was probably a mistake. "Playing him was probably a decision which backfired as he came off with a recurrence of a dead leg," he explained.

"We'd given him up to Sunday morning and we thought we could get some reasonable game-time out of him but it soon became apparent it was not right and we had to haul him off after 15 minutes.

"It was probably a wrong decision, but he did not let us down while he was out there and we compensated for it all right."

Meanwhile, Agar, who was among the capacity crowd at today's Challenge Cup final in Cardiff, has followed chief executive Steve Ferres in ridiculing suggestions the Knights could sign on loan Leeds newcomer Ali Lauiti'iti, the Kiwi international whose debut for the Rhinos might be delayed by overseas quota red tape.

"When asked about it (by a rugby league trade paper) I said, 'Yes it's true and we've also asked Leeds if we can have first option on Iestyn Harris'," Agar joked. "I honestly don't know where these rumours come from."

Updated: 10:02 Saturday, May 15, 2004