HUNSLET will have up to half a dozen ex-Knights on show when they come to York for Sunday's potential League One cracker at Bootham Crescent.

Boss Gary Thornton, himself a former York head coach of course, will be without Josh Tonks, the popular ex-Knights back-rower who joined the Parksiders from Keighley in early July. With the Cougars having no game this weekend, Tonks booked a holiday earlier in the year expecting to have the week off.

However, Danny Grimshaw, a Huntington Stadium favourite in the late noughties, makes a welcome return from a lengthy bicep injury and is likely to start in the centres.

Dee Foggin-Johnston, the Knights' top scorer with 15 tries in 19 appearances last term, will be on one wing, while Jack Lee, a former Press and Championship One Player of the Year in his time at York, will feature at hooker.

Duane Straugheir, who had five years in the Championship with Sheffield after leaving the Knights at the end of 2011, and the hard-running Matty Nicholson are in the pack, while Tommy Brierley, who had an unsuccessful spell at York last year, is also named in Thornton's 19-man squad, probably vying with veteran Daley Williams for the wing berth vacated by Gavin Duffy.

Duffy (ankle), a hat-trick scorer against Hemel last week, and centres Tom Ashton (suspended) and Nathan Chappell (knee) all drop out from the 17 that saw off the Stags.

Whatever side Thornton goes with, Knights boss James Ford was wary of the danger in their ranks, with the play-off-chasing Parksiders looking to make it four consecutive wins after victories over Hemel, West Wales and Keighley.

"They've got a strong pack and the two half-backs combine pretty well and ask questions," he said.

"The full-back (Jimmy Watson) is a threat if you give him an opportunity to return the ball in space, and (hooker) Jack Lee as we know is an absolute class act on his day so we'll need to be good around marker and on our try-line to nullify that threat.

"They have threats all over the pitch so we know we'll have to be at our best."

Hunslet (possible): Watson, Foggin-Johnston, Grimshaw, Mvududu, Williams, Sanderson, Southernwood, Coventry, Lee, Reed, Mackay, Straugheir, Nicholson. Subs: from Foster, Walton, Cooke, Hema, Wright, Brierley.