DAVE WOODS says York City Knights’ recent run of good performances will count for nothing if his team’s standards slip at Dewsbury Rams this weekend.

The head coach takes his improving squad to the Tetleys Stadium on Sunday for a key Co-operative Championship clash with the chance to go above their relegation-threatened rivals in the table if they win.

Having already beaten Dewsbury at Huntington Stadium, the Knights have turned in promising displays in defeat in their last few encounters – putting 38 points on the board against Leigh and losing by only four to Super League-bound Widnes Vikings last time out.

But Woods has been ramming the message home to his players that they must maintain their standards and stressed a win would give his team a bit of “breathing space” as they battle to avoid the drop.

“I think it’s a very important game,” said Woods.

“All the good work we have done over the last three weeks (in games and training) will mean absolutely nothing if we don’t put in a performance against a team that is around us in the table.

“It’s very important to put that performance in and we spoke about that at training on Tuesday night. It would be disappointing if we didn’t back that up.

“It would put us ahead of them and Hunslet still have to play Dewsbury again this year. This win would give us a little bit of breathing space so it is very important we do well.”

Woods also revealed that loan signing Jack Aldous will not be playing when the Knights reserve grade entertain Oldham tonight in a Reserve Championship game which has been rearranged after the first game was postponed because the posts blew down in a gale.

The Knights had toyed with the idea of giving the 20-year-old prop, who has arrived from Hull, a run-out in preparation for the Dewsbury game but Woods will throw him straight into the squad for that match.

“Jack Aldous will go straight into the squad on Sunday,” he confirmed. “We were tossing up whether to give him a run out in the reserves but he has shown us in training what he can do.

“We have had a lot of reports on him from a lot of different people and they are all pretty good. He is probably a mini version of Ben Jones. He is smaller but he defends well and he hits like him and carries the ball like him.

“We just think we will keep him for the weekend. We have got enough in the reserve grade to go with.”