YORK Acorn ARLC boss Alfie Hill says his side will have to take each day as it comes as they head into an almost overwhelming fixture backlog.

The Blue and Golds face paying a heavy price for their cup runs earlier in the season, plus the fact two games were abandoned, as they now confront a playing schedule of eight National Conference division one matches in just 29 days.

It starts at home to strugglers Askam on Saturday and then takes in games as follows: Wednesday, Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, Saturday. On top of that, Acorn have a number of players in York City Knights' Academy squad, whose Under-21s season starts a week tomorrow with an away game at Widnes.

Hill has not ruled his side out of the promotion race - victory in all their games in hand will put them in the picture - but reckons the backlog is likely to be detrimental.

He said: "It could have an effect by the second week, especially with the Knights U21s starting, as we've got three or four players playing for them. It all possibly means some of our lads will be playing Saturday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday - and that's impossible.

"We've rung around and some other players are back in training to maybe help us out if and when we need it.

"As it is, we will deal with the first game first and I'm hoping we can get a good win."

That first game is the easiest on paper, with Askam lying second bottom. But Hill warned: "They're battling to get out of the relegation zone and we can't get complacent just because we've had a couple of good wins.

"We have to treat everyone the same and treat them with respect and go out and do a good job."

Lee McTigue is ruled out with work commitments but Hill reckoned this might be a blessing in disguise, especially as Alan Willitts and Peter Wallace return after injury and unavailability respectively. He said: "That rotation suits us really, as it means players can stay a bit fresher for the run-in."

Heworth are not in action in division but will keep a close eye on the results of teams below them in the hope they don't get dragged further into the re-election mire.

Widnes St Maries' promotion hopes in that division took a blow - literally - after they had three players suspended following the carry-on in the Challenge Cup third round tie against Barrow Raiders.

Leighton Smith, James Rampling and Carl Leach were all found guilty of punching and fined £25 apiece. They were banned for three, two and one games respectively.

Barrow's Brett McDermott was found guilty of running in and striking and fined £75 but his sending off was otherwise considered sufficient punishment, and team-mate Michael Whitehead was found not guilty of punching.

Updated: 09:47 Thursday, March 30, 2006