AMBITIOUS York City Knights appear set for a much-needed boost to their back line - with talks ongoing to recruit a threequarter from a Super League club.

No agreement has yet been reached with former Hull FC winger Callum Lancaster - the speedster was offered a deal at the end of his one-month trial period but has yet to put pen to paper.

But The Press understands the Knights have irons in other fires - and in particular are in negotiations with a high-flying top-tier club to sign a sought-after young centre-cum-winger, probably on loan for the rest of the season.

Head coach James Ford would neither confirm nor deny the rumours but he did say it was an "exciting time to be at the Knights".

Ford has sought to strengthen in the centres since losing the prolific Nick Rawsthorne last month.

Rawsthorne scored eight tries in five outings for York but was then recalled by parent club Hull for Super League action before going on dual-reg to the Knights' League One rivals, Doncaster.

Ford also brought in Hull KR's Jake Butler-Fleming on dual-reg for last week's win at Hunslet only for the Aussie to pull out in the warm-up.

Currently in contention for centre berths are Nev Morrison, who has played most of his career on the wing, James Haynes, who is more of a full-back, Brad Hey, who prefers playing in the second row, and young Adam Swift, who is back from a spell in French rugby league but has yet to make his first-team bow.

Said Ford: "We're looking to improve the quality of the squad 365 days of the year by adding players or tying down our best players, and that work is ongoing.

"It's an exciting time to be with the Knights."

Any new signing will follow quickly on from the recent arrivals of half-back Connor Robinson from Halifax and prop Samir Tahraoui on a season-long loan from Rochdale.

Tahraoui, meanwhile, is being pencilled in for a return to action once the Super 8s get underway.

His debut had to be put on hold due to a knee injury suffered at home and he now goes in for surgery on a longstanding thumb problem - something the Knights were aware of when signing him.

Ford said: "We expected he would play a couple of weeks before the operation but that wasn't to be. We'll look to get him up to speed and ready for the Super 8s."