POCKLINGTON will know by Christmas exactly what hope they have of staving off relegation.

The Yorkshire One bottom club are currently two points adrift of Selby and three away from West Park Bramhope, but with games against these fellow strugglers in the run-up to the festive period, they will soon have a good idea of what lies ahead for them.

Pock' start off against West Park Bramhope tomorrow at Percy Road, before travelling to local rivals Selby on December 22.

After showing encouraging signs of improvement away to promotion-chasing Sheffield Tigers before being overrun in the final quarter on Saturday, Pock' will go into the game confident of pulling off a good result.

However, injury to hooker Huw Rees has forced the Percy Roaders to shuffle their front row.

Rees dislocated his shoulder against the Tigers, so Steve Wolcock moves across to hook with the experienced Rob Smith coming in at tight head prop.

In the backs, Mark Taylor hopes to return after a fortnight out with knee trouble.

Fellow strugglers Selby could go into the relegation scrap against Pock' in deeper trouble unless they can pull off a shock victory away at title-chasing Old Brodleians.

"Going to Brods is never easy," said team manager Richard Besley.

"We've had some fairly good games against them in the past. We beat them in the cup a couple of seasons ago and did the double over them last year."

And Selby showed they have nothing to fear when facing the Yorkshire One high-fliers after going agonisingly close against Pontefract on Saturday - after leading 15-3, Selby were eventually defeated 18-15 by the last kick of the game.

Experienced centre John Webster is set to continue his comeback, with former Nottingham team-mate Nick Gregory, who made his debut against Pontefract after signing from Darlington, giving his calming influence in the fly-half role.

Centre Martin Prothero is back in the squad after his appearance for the Welsh Exiles Under 20s last week.

York too could be dragged into the battle at the bottom, although victory at home to North Ribblesdale should give them some much-needed breathing space.

Having been in the running as an outside chance for promotion, the Clifton Park boys are now in danger of joining Selby and Pock' at the wrong end of the table following their 16-9 defeat by Yarnbury.

Despite their position, coach Andy Gair is refusing to rule his side out of a shot at promotion - but only if they can pick up maximum points from their clashes against North Ribb and Hull (Dec 22).

"Tomorrow is important for us. We need to win, there is no question about that," he said. "For the sake of the players, we need to win and win well, otherwise the doubts start to creep in."

Fijian winger Rob Karma misses the clash with a dead leg picked up playing in a sevens tournament in Trinidad.

York Railway Institute will get first-hand knowledge of what they will face in the Tetley's Bitter Vase on December 15 when they entertain Skipton tomorrow.

The Yorkshire Two rivals meet again in eight days time for the much-anticipated Vase clash, but first there are two important league points to be claimed.

Despite their excursion in the coveted competition, RI have not enjoyed the best of seasons in the league and know they need to keep picking up points when and where they can.

"League points are more important," said spokesman Nigel Lowery. "The Cup is fantastic and we want to get as far as we can, but there are two league points at stake tomorrow which we need to get to move further away from the bottom."

Chris Hudson and Erickson Atkins are both named in the squad for the match.

Malton and Norton will delay final selection for the visit to Old Otliensians to check on two or three senior players who missed last week's defeat at Leeds Corinthians.

A win is a must if the promotion challenge is to be maintained and all efforts have been focused on making no slip-ups.

Updated: 12:42 Friday, December 07, 2001