YORK City Knights have acted swiftly to cover for long-term injury victim Chris Smith by snapping up Doncaster full-back/winger Jonny Woodcock on a month's loan.

The Knights have also signed two Yorkshire Amateur players, Leigh Riddell and Neil Mears, both from Normanton ARLC, and former Featherstone and Dewsbury player Kevin Spink.

The Knights received a blow this week when full-back Smith was ruled out for the season with knee ligament damage but Woodcock should prove an able replacement and goes straight into the squad for Sunday's big home match against Keighley Cougars.

The 21-year-old goal-kicker was the league's young player of the year last season but then suffered a bad knee injury, with the Dragons, who have cover for him, willing to loan him out as he returns to form.

Knights chief executive Steve Ferres said: "To bring a player of Jonny's calibre in at this stage of the season is great. It will help us a great deal starting on Sunday. We're delighted to have him on board, he's a very promising player with a big future. We're grateful to (Dragons coach) St John Ellis for his help."

Riddell, 26, and Mears, 23, can play prop or second-row, while Spink, 23, is a back-row.

Ferres said: "They've trained with us for the last three weeks and we believe they've got the quality to play at this level."

The Knights' signing spree might not end as they are also chasing a Super League club Academy player, a BARLA Under-21 international and a student international.

Ferres added: "We've released one or two players recently and we're looking at fetching some youngsters in to bolster the squad and bring them on for the future."

Updated: 11:36 Friday, July 11, 2003