LIAM HARRIS insists that York City Knights have nothing to lose in Sunday’s trip to Leigh Centurions (2pm) and will aim to “have fun” at the Leigh Sports Village.

A depleted York side defied the odds in Sunday’s 26-24 victory at Halifax Panthers in the Betfred Championship play-off quarter-finals.

Having finished three places below Halifax in the league table and missing eight players through injury, the Knights were the rank outsiders, yet managed to pull off a remarkable shock at The Shay.

York face an even greater task this weekend, taking on a Leigh side that thrashed the Knights 100-4 when the sides met last month.

But they will head across the Pennines with the same nothing-to-lose mentality that saw them prevail at Halifax.

“I think it’s always sweeter when you’re an underdog and you’re not meant to come and win at Halifax, who’ve been awesome all year and congratulations to them for the fantastic year they’ve had,” reflected Harris.

“It was very sweet to get that win with everyone writing us off during the week. I absolutely love that feeling and we thrive off that. Let’s go again next week.

“What do we have to lose? Leigh are already getting promoted I’ve heard.

“The main thing from the Halifax game was that we all had fun. So, we’ll go to Leigh and have fun.”

As will again be the case on Sunday, York entered last weekend’s quarter-final at Halifax as the clear underdogs, although such a build-up appeared to play into their hands as the expectation appeared to impact upon the performance of the Panthers.

“We had nothing to lose and had absolutely no pressure on us, with the depleted squad we had,” Harris explained of the mindset.

“Who would have thought we’d do it? But here we are. It’s just a fantastic achievement for the effort from the boys all year, from the start of pre-season in November to now.

“It was a fantastic feeling and we’re not done yet.”

The half-back will be aiming to build on an exceptional performance against former club Halifax last time out.

Having lost Jamie Ellis to a bicep injury after half an hour, Harris was the club’s only remaining fit half and stood up when it mattered, kicking the ball expertly while also scoring himself early in the second half.

“First of all, I’m absolutely gutted for Jamie,” said Harris. “I thought his attitude throughout the week was fantastic because it’s so tough when you’re not getting picked or you’re constantly getting injured.

“I had to take over and that’s my job at the end of the day, although it would have been nice to have had him out there with me.”

Harris put down his individual impact down to the change in head coach James Ford’s game-plan, which saw a drastic attacking and aggressive strategy targeted.

The former Hull FC man recalled: “I thought ‘Fordy’s gone absolutely crazy or this is going to work for us here.’

“We’ve always been a high percentage team that kicks to corners and defends tough. We did defend tough and aggressively (against Halifax), just in a different style.

“My kicking felt good. I had a little bit more of a free rein in terms of where I was kicking. He (Ford) didn’t tell me that I had to put it in this box as happens usually every single week.

“Hats off to Fordy, he’s nailed the game plan and it’s paid off for us. I’m just not sure we’ll see that again.”