PACK enforcer Iain Morrison might yet be back for the all-important business end of York City Knights’ season – but fellow prop Nathan Freer almost certainly won’t following his latest worrying setback.

The 31-year-old Morrison, in and out of the team all season because of sickness and injury, became a major doubt for the rest of the Championship One campaign following surgery a fortnight ago to remove an abscess from a shoulder – a growth which is now thought to have been a cause of his other bouts of ill health.

He still has to attend hospital every few days to get the dressing changed following the procedure.

However, Knights boss Gary Thornton says the wound seems to be healing well, and the former Featherstone forward has a chance of returning for the trip to arch-rivals Hunslet Hawks on August 17 – the penultimate game of the regular season and one which may yet decide who finishes top.

Said the head coach: “Iain’s making progress. Maybe it’s not as bad as previously thought. It’s a case of reassessing the situation as we go, but he might be available for Hunslet. We’ve got four games (of the regular season) left. He won’t be ready for Gateshead Thunder (this coming Sunday) but maybe for Hunslet. Fingers crossed.”

Freer, meanwhile, will need to see a specialist after suffering further headaches and nausea on his return to light training.

He has not featured since suffering concussion in the win over Hemel in mid-May and will not be considered for action until doctors resolve the problem.

Said Thornton: “He’s had a setback. He did some contact work (at training) and started feeling unwell again. He’s in the hands of the medical people now. He’s out of the equation until they can get to the bottom of this.

“He’s arranging a scan through his work with Hull FC. Every time he does physical activity he gets recurring headaches, which is a big worry. His health comes first. There’s no way he can play. It does not look good for this season.

“We will get the results of the scan and we’ll go from there, but there’s no way we’re going to rush it.”