STAYING injury free is the number one priority for York City Knights at tomorrow’s Northern Rail 9s, according to coach Dave Woods.

The Huntington Stadium club are sending a 14-man squad to Fylde RUFC’s Memorial Ground for the annual nine-a-side competition on the eve of the Northern Rail Cup final.

However, the Knights have been plagued by injuries in recent weeks and Woods declared the clear priority remains promotion via the Championship One play-offs.

“We’ve got a few injuries and we need to make sure we are right for the rest of the Championship One season,” he said.

“We are sending some good players, but resting a few others with niggles. It’s a situation where we need to come out of it injury free.

“We can’t afford to go and get injuries – that’s the last thing we need.”

The Knights open their Pool Three campaign against Workington Town at 12.30pm, before a quick turnaround to play Whitehaven at 1.30pm.

Their final group game is against Keighley Cougars at 4.30pm and Woods is expecting a difficult afternoon.

“We’ve got a tough group with only half an hour between our first and second games, and then three hours before the third,” he said.

“If we make the play-off stages, that will be great, but if not we won’t go and jump off Blackpool Tower.”

The Knights squad is spearheaded by the vastly experienced Chris Thorman, with Woods expecting the talent of the likes of Tom Lineham, James Haynes and Jack Lee to shine through.

But he added: “You can’t learn too much about players in this format – it’s more a bit of fun.”

Chris Williams and Jack Stearman miss out on the 9s squad to get more game time with the reserves at Whitehaven on Sunday (3pm).

Meanwhile, Woods is disappointed at the one-day schedule for the 9s and also criticised the fact that the Memorial Ground venue has been double-booked with a wedding.

He said: “I think they have devalued the competition a bit by having it all on one day – it was much better when it finished on the Sunday before the Northern Rail Cup final.

“Apparently there is also a wedding on at the ground, so people won’t be able to use all the facilities.”

Knights 9s squad: Thorman, Lineham, Mitchell, Clough, Lee, Mole, Haynes, Smith, Freer, Allan, Dinsdale, Woods, O Wilcox-Harrison, Malarkey.