MARK Applegarth has called for York Knights to respond positively from last weekend’s defeat at Bradford Bulls when they take on Swinton Lions at the LNER Community Stadium on Sunday (3pm).

The Knights did hold a slender lead at Odsal after a quarter of an hour, but did not begin to play again until they were 30-10 behind, with stand-in half-back Sam Cook spearheading a late comeback that saw the gap closed to just two points before Zac Fulton made sure of victory for the Bulls late on.

That was just York’s second defeat under Applegarth, having overcome Dewsbury Rams, Featherstone Rovers, Barrow Raiders and Doncaster so far under his tenure.

Swinton themselves head into Sunday's fixture hoping to return to winning ways, with two late tries condemning them to a 22-20 defeat at home to Whitehaven.

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Just two points separate the sides, with Applegarth relishing the prospect of a close encounter.

Asked whether he would like to see his side involved in a game of fine margins, the Knights boss told BBC Radio York: “I hope so.

“That’s what you want to be involved in, especially coming into this final third. You need those tough games that are going to battle-harden you.

"I’m sure they’re saying the same. You want to be in those tough games and we want to come out on the right side of it.

“It’s not just going to get gifted to you, nothing does, does it? We need to make sure that we bring our best game and enjoy that expectation of going into it and wanting to perform and coming out of it with what we want.

“They’ll be saying exactly the same.”

The Knights pulled off an astonishing comeback at Heywood Road in May.The Knights pulled off an astonishing comeback at Heywood Road in May. (Image: Craig Hawkhead Photography)

The reverse fixture will live long in the memory, with the Knights producing a thrilling comeback to claim the spoils at Heywood Road back in May.

Dead and buried, a red card to half-back Jordan Gibson for a high tackle on Will Dagger completely changed the game’s complexion, with Josh Daley, Jesse Dee, Joe Brown and Franklin Pele scoring as they snatched a 30-22 victory.

And Applegarth admits the Lions offer a threat across the pitch.

“They play a lot of shape, they throw a lot of shape at you,” he explained. “If you’re slightly off and go dipping your toe in, you’ll get punished for it.

“I just think they’re a very well-balanced team with dangers throughout the field, so we’ll be expecting the best version of them and we’ll be prepping for that.

“But we’ll also be after a response for what we served up against Bradford.”