YORK City Knights boss James Ford says League One success is the priority this year - but that does not mean they won't be going all out for glory in the cup competitions too.

The Knights kick off their season on Sunday in the iPro Cup first round tie at Hunslet, and then follows their annual bow in the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup - the draw for the third round of which takes place tonight. The League One season then starts on March 6.

Ford's men, however, have played only one friendly - the loss to Castleford Tigers back on January 22 - with their two other scheduled matches falling foul of the wintry weather and a hastily-arranged replacement fixture also falling by the wayside.

But Ford insists they won't thus treat the upcoming cup ties as warm-up matches for the league.

"The league is our priority competition, certainly with our preparation hampered by the friendlies being called off," he said.

"But you always want to win every game you play - that goes for every player in every club in every sport.

"You have to prioritise certain competitions and for us the league is our priority, even more so with the disruption to the trial games.

"It would be unreasonable for me to demand the players win the iPro Sport Cup knowing we've had only one trial game a month ago and will play teams who have played four or five games.

"However, I expect us to perform very well against Hunslet and, like they will want to beat us, we will certainly want to beat them.

"There's a good level of friendly rivalry between the supporters, the players and the coaching staff."

As for the Challenge Cup, in which the Knights last year saw off two amateur clubs before enjoying a night out at Super League giants St Helens, Ford said:" It depends on the draw. We will take it one game at a time.

"We enjoyed our experiences last year and hopefully we will get to experience something similar this year."

The Knights will be joined in tonight's draw by York Acorn ARLC who saw off Distington in round two on Saturday - and head coach Scott Rhodes has long since said he'd love to be drawn against the city's pro club.

League One teams enter at this stage, with Championship clubs entering in round four and Super League sides in rounds five and six.