ANDREW Henderson admits that the club's four-match unbeaten streak has instilled a good level of confidence within the York Knights squad.

With all four of the Knights’ fixtures played in front of their home crowd at the LNER Community Stadium, Henderson conceded that May would likely be a season-defining one – but he could hardly be happier with the way that it has gone for his side thus far.

York’s remaining fixture though is their toughest, as they face off against runaway Betfred Championship leaders Featherstone Rovers at Summer Bash on Saturday (7:30pm).

Whilst the Knights’ poor league form saw them slip to tenth in the Championship table, important victories against both Newcastle Thunder and London Broncos have proved valuable in their hunt for a top-six finish.

York showed their character to win both by just one score, with last weekend’s 36-12 triumph over London Broncos seeing them display one of their best second-half performances of the season, with Henderson admitting that the confidence in his squad is good.

“It’s been good,” he enthused. “We’ve built a little bit of momentum there and some continuity I guess.

“Getting four wins on the bounce certainly puts you in a better frame of mind going into it. It’s a big game this week for us at the Summer Bash against the league leaders in Featherstone.

“I’m really pleased that we’ve managed to secure those results. We wanted to get as far as we can go in the Challenge Cup, and we wanted to qualify for the 1895 Cup Semi-Final, and so we’ve ticked that box by beating Newcastle and we’re at the Quarter Final stage of the Challenge Cup which was important.

“We picked up those two results in the Championship too to keep us alive and in the hunt for a top six finish.

“It’s been a good month for the team and the boys.”

York Press: Josh Daley has begun to make the unfamiliar position of half-back his own.Josh Daley has begun to make the unfamiliar position of half-back his own. (Image: Dean Williams)

York have spent most of the month without key trio Bailey Antrobus, Liam Harris and Ata Hingano to injury, with Josh Daley playing some of his best rugby in York alongside James Cunningham at half-back rather than his preferred role as hooker.

That has not gone unnoticed by Henderson, who has been impressed with the way in which the fit members of his squad have been able to perform out of position.

“I feel the boys have been good in terms of adapting to some of the changes that we’ve had to do,” he said.

“We’ve had different half backs in different games and had people in different positions – different centres, different wingers.

“We’ve had a lot of disruption in terms of personnel, but the players haven’t let that phase them. They’ve accepted that they’ve had to play out of position, but they’ve just done that, cracked on and got the job done.

“You could argue that some of those results or performances weren’t our best, but we found a way to win. That’s a credit to the playing group.

“We’re excited about Saturday now and looking forward to the challenge that’s going to be presented. We’ll certainly hopefully give a good account of ourselves in front of our home supporters.”