YORK City Knights chief executive Steve Ferres has stressed that revenue accrued by big home gates will be ploughed back in to the club.

Ferres labelled as 'marvellous' the near 1,300 turn-out that saw the Knights' opening National League Two match at home to Gateshead Thunder on Good Friday and asked for patience from the fans in the wake of the disappointing 29-12 defeat.

And he added the Knights were close to recruiting another player, saying that good attendances at Huntington Stadium were helping the club to bolster the injury-hit squad. No details were made available about the player but the Evening Press believes he is a proven try-scorer with Super League experience.

Said Ferres: "I want to thank the supporters for a tremendous turn-out on Friday and to reiterate what we've said all along, that we are aiming to be very competitive.

"The crowd were fantastic, they turned up in numbers and got behind the team. I don't think anyone playing Gateshead this season will get that kind of crowd, and we can only apologise that when we needed a big start to the campaign we put on an inept display.

"The turn-out was marvellous and success will be a by-product of people turning up. It will put us in a better position financially than the other clubs in our division and we will reinvest it in players."

He added: "This signing is a commitment to the supporters to say 'you've turned up in numbers and you've paid your money and we will reinvest that to fetch in a player who has got something to offer'."

Ferres admitted the club had 'had it tough' with injuries which has left them thin on the ground but did not offer that as an excuse for Friday's defeat.

"It was a very disappointing result but patience and understanding is the key," he said. "We believe everything we are doing is right and although this was our first real set-back it was only a set-back and we've got to take them on the nose and move forward.

"People who turned up for the first time this season might have got a shock and they might be thinking 'we've seen it all before' but they won't have seen the will and the want to do it that we've got.

"Nothing is ever going to go smoothly all the time and we know we're in for another tough game at Sheffield (today), but there is a steely mentality from myself and (player-coach) Paul Broadbent to get it right."

CASTLEFORD coach Graham Steadman, the former York player, was preparing to turn to the club's youngsters as the Tigers look to deny Huddersfield a fourth successive Super League win tonight.

Steadman is likely to be without hooker and first-choice goalkicker Wayne Bartrim, who gashed a leg in Thursday's last-gasp one-point defeat by Leeds, and Mitch Healey is still troubled by hamstring problems.

"I might give one or two of the young guys an opportunity.

"We've got to learn and bounce back. Good sides do it and we've got an opportunity to do it within the space of four days."

Updated: 11:13 Monday, April 21, 2003