YORK City Knights are sweating on the fitness of in-form second-row Jordan Ross – amid fears he could be out for the season.

Ross was helped off the field in the second half of the Knights’ thrilling 24-22 Championship One win over previously unbeaten Blackpool on Sunday with what appeared to be a bad knee injury.

Any long-term absence would leave the Knights not only without one of their standout players this season but also short on numbers in the back row, with Chris Clough having just started a four-match ban and Danny Hill having been told he can find another club.

Fellow second-row Matty Duckworth is also struggling to commute from his Derby home – so much so that a plea has gone out for potential employers to offer him a job in the York area, to help out both the player and the club.

It is thought Ross, who lies second in The Press/Northern Rail Player of the Year standings, has damaged medial ligaments, and the worst-case scenario is a bad tear and a nine-month spell on the sidelines.

The best-case scenario is a minor extension of the ligament and a fortnight out of action, but the swelling has so far been too bad to carry out a scan on the joint.

He is certain to miss Sunday’s Northern Rail Cup quarter-final away to Championship side Keighley Cougars – and the Knights are also likely be without Nathan Freer as well as winger Dennis Tuffour.

Prop forward Freer had to go to hospital to have 11 stitches around his left eye, due to a bad wound suffered at the end of Sunday’s match.

The Knights have cited Blackpool prop Andy Hobson for foul play, believing video evidence shows he hit Freer with an elbow off the ball. Hobson could face a six to eight-match ban.

Knights head coach James Ratcliffe said: “It’s not for me to say what will happen (to Hobson). I don’t make those decisions.

“The surgeon said Nathan was pretty lucky there was no more damage to the eye socket.”

Tuffour, who set up Tom Lineham’s late match- winning try on Sunday with an outrageous one-handed pass, is ineligible for the quarter-final at Keighley as rules state dual-registered players can only play in the Northern Rail Cup knockout games if they also featured in the group stages.

This rule is in place to prevent clubs signing dual-registered Super League players solely for a big cup tie.

Conversely, it is thought hooker Jack Lee is eligible to play, despite having played for another club, Featherstone, in the knockout stages.

Luke Helliwell, who has gone on loan from York to Keighley, is not allowed to play against his parent club.

Meanwhile, The Press understands the Knights have not looked at recruiting former Super League player Graham Holroyd to fill their troublesome half-back slot.

Veteran Holroyd has left Championship One rivals Swinton but is thought to be looking to mix a playing role with a coaching position.

Swinton also saw player-coach Paul Smith resign last week and lost another playmaker, Mick Govin, who moved to Batley as a direct replacement for Castleford-bound Kyle Wood. The Knights were not in the race to sign Govin.

There had been rumours linking York’s out-of-favour pivot Joe McLocklan with Batley, but Govin’s switch means such a move is unlikely.

The Knights have otherwise had no enquiries about either McLocklan or Hill, who are both effectively on the transfer list.