YORK Acorn ARLC are still targeting a play-off place in National Conference League division one - despite a four-game losing sequence and another weekend afoot where they will be much-depleted.

The Blue and Golds have lost to the top three in successive matches, the tough run having been preceded by a shock home defeat to bottom team Featherstone Lions.

But they remain sixth in the table and, ahead of Saturday's home game with eighth-placed Hull Dockers (2.30pm), head coach Leigh Paul-Rientoul is calling on his troops to dig in and start a run of wins that could not only keep them in the play-off places but alleviate concerns of being dragged into a relegation scrap, with only a four-point cushion currently keeping them out of that picture.

"I think we can start picking up results now we've got the top three out of the way," he said. "We're certainly not at panic stations yet.

"We started finding form against lower teams prior to this losing run and we've got those teams to come around again now, with the top three out of the way.

"The top half in this league is totally different to the bottom half - those top three could do okay in the premier. We can go on a run of wins again, starting this weekend."

On their hopes of repeating their shock play-off triumph of two years ago, Paul-Rientoul said: "Like we've said, I never thought when we came down last year that our aim was to go straight back up - we just weren't ready for the premier division, and we shouldn't really have gone up when we did. We're a mid-table team (in division one).

"However, our aim is to get in the play-off places, test ourselves and see what comes of that.

Acorn will be understrength again on Saturday, though, with half-backs Ant and Matt Chilton now away for a couple of weeks, key prop Josh Mortimer out for six weeks with a broken foot sustained last time out against Milford, and full-back Eddie Clapham joining the unavailable list. Prop Tim Stubbs is soon to miss a few games too.

But England Universities hooker Lewis Lord is now back from the Student World Cup in Australia, where he helped his country reach the semi-finals, while Jake Calam is also available again and Lewis Brown has signed from neighbours Heworth.

Said Paul-Rientoul: "We are being hit by injuries and unavailability - it's massive again this weekend, which makes things tougher - but we're at home and we'll be up for it."