YORK KNIGHTS boss Andrew Henderson has confirmed that new signing James Cunningham will not feature in their Betfred Championship clash at home to Bradford Bulls on Monday night (7.45pm). 

The 28-year-old, who joined the Knights in a two-year deal from fellow Championship side Toulouse Olympique last week, was brought off 30 minutes into his debut in York’s 12-19 loss to Widnes Vikings on Sunday afternoon with a suspected knee injury.

Cunningham, who can play in a range of positions including hooker, stand off and half back, was described by Henderson as a ‘Mr Fix It guy’, and his loss is likely to be felt.

“[James] is going to get scanned tomorrow,” Henderson explained. “We’ve booked him in for a scan.

“It’s not looking particularly great if I’m honest, from assessments. How bad, or to the extent of it.

“It wasn’t the best tackle either, he kind of got tackled from behind, and it was a bit of an ugly one really. I don’t think that there was any malice in the tackle really, it was just more about the way that he fell.

“I think that James put a lot of pressure through the knee there, so I’m not sure how long it will be or how long that he will be out, but we’ll know once we get the scan.

“It’ll either alleviate our initial fears or it’ll actually confirm our initial fears.

“Either way, I certainly don’t think that he’ll be coming back for the next few more weeks, that’s for sure, which is disappointing.”

Cunningham is the latest to be added to the Knights’ long injury list, which also includes the likes of captain Chris Clarkson and half back Ata Hingano, who was injured just moments before half time in York’s 48-12 friendly win against Championship heavyweights Batley Bulldogs last month.

The Tonga ace had initially been named on the Knights’ teamsheet last weekend, but was replaced by Cunningham, but although Henderson is hopeful that the 25-year-old’s lay-off will not be as long as originally feared, he is in no hurry to introduce him back into the fray until he is healed.

“[Ata Hingano], I’m not sure if he’ll be right for this week,” Henderson admitted.

“We’re just progressing him.

“I’ve got a duty of care to not rush some of these guys back because we can’t be having this when if we bring them back too quickly, they break down a week or two later and you lose them for another two or three weeks. 

“We can’t be living through like that.

“We need to make sure that the injury that they have got, we get it back to where it needs to be so that we can give them the best chance.

“I know that injuries are part and parcel of the game and that at certain times some of those contact injuries you can’t avoid, but certainly soft tissue ones, we’ve got to do our best to mitigate those.

“If he’s right to go this week, then great. But if he’s not then we will hold him back.

“He could be back this week or in the next couple of weeks. I’d be expecting a return from him either within a week to three potentially.

“He should hopefully be back shortly.”

Despite the club’s current injury crisis leaving Henderson down to the bare bones of his squad, the head coach has every confidence that his available players can produce a winning result.

“We are still a good side with or without certain players,” he added. 

“I think that we have a lot of clarity in the team, they know what’s expected of them and whoever turns out in whatever position can do the job, I’ve got every confidence in that.

“Every club at some point this season will have a little bit of a spell like this where you’ve got a few players out and a bit of disruption, we’re having it now.

“I’m hopeful that when we do get everyone back on board and we are fully fit and we’re humming, then we hopefully won’t have to suffer more of this mid to later in the year, we’ll get rid of it now.”