YORK City Knights expect to be well equipped in the hooking department next year after both Paul Stamp and Chris Williams agreed to stay at Huntington Stadium.

Both youngsters have agreed new deals and, with first-choice number nine Jack Lee already signed up, the Knights can now turn their attentions elsewhere on the field as they continue to build for 2011.

Knights boss Dave Woods was happy to have them on board and said the club were now well stocked at hooker.

“We’ve got Jack Lee as our number-one hooker and these two will fight it out for the second string role and push Jack for that top spot,” he said.

“Stampy can also play in the halves and Chris Williams can play in the back row or loose- forward, so there’s a bit of versatility there as well.”

Stamp, signed from Hull in pre-season, had started the season as understudy to number nine Joe McLocklan but generally impressed off the bench and took over as first-choice hooker after six games until the arrival in late April of Lee.

The 21-year-old then showed his value by playing at scrum-half for three games before suffering a knee injury which forced him to miss the next nine matches. He returned as substitute in the win at South Wales on Sunday, entering the fray at scrum-half early on after Scott Woods was stretchered off.

Williams, 20, a former Wakefield junior, has been at the club for nearly two years after moving to York to study at York St John University.

He played only one first-team game last season and had to wait for his opportunity this term, but the departure of McLocklan and injury to Stamp saw him get a regular run of eight matches.

Woods, who arrived at Hunting-ton Stadium in April, reckons both of them can improve further.

“I didn’t know much about them before I came but Stampy showed ability when he was playing – he only played a couple of games since I arrived before getting injured – and he showed he’s a good footballer.

“Chris has improved a lot since I’ve been here and when he’s played he’s done a good job. In one game we even pushed him into the front row for a bit and he did a decent job doing that too.

“They’re both young fellas and I think they can get better.

“Stampy has a bit to learn but he’s a kid who will pick it up and go with it and he will improve, and it’s the same with Chris.

“He’s still learning but he’s only been made into a hooker in the last year or two. He gets out there and does extra work, and he wants to learn, and I’m sure he will.”

• SOUTH Wales prop Gil Dudson has been charged by Rugby Football League disciplinary chiefs with using a forearm to the head of an opponent, after they reviewed the incident that left Knights scrum-half Scott Woods in hospital amid fears of a broken neck. If guilty, Dudson could be banned for one or two matches.