JAMES FORD wants his York City Knights side to get a reputation for tough defence as well as free-flowing attack - after watching them become the meanest team in League One.

The Knights' 40-10 victory over London Skolars at Heworth ARLC's Elmpark Way ground lifted the homeless outfit to sixth in the table with a game in hand on three teams above them.

And while they have been lauded for an entertaining brand of rugby league in recent weeks, this result also gave them the best points-against record in the division to date, having conceded 160 in nine outings - one fewer than North Wales Crusaders and leaders Keighley.

Asked of those defensive efforts, Ford said: "I've got a lot of really honest players who work hard, come back, turn quickly, get off the line really well and put their bodies on the line.

"We want to be known for our defensive efforts and get a reputation for it."

The Knights scored eight tries but Ford admitted they missed chances to boost their points-for tally.

"We were good in most areas," he said. "Our contact was good, our systems in defence were good and we were tidy coming away from our line. In the main we dominated territory.

"Possibly we were sloppy on the edges and maybe we could have been more clinical in the final third, but the conditions weren't great. We're skilful enough to play that type of rugby league when it's wet and greasy, though, so we'll look to tidy up our skills before the Hemel game next week.

"There were a lot of pleasing factors. Where we need to grow and develop is with a ruthless nature - get five chances and score five chances."

Ford, meanwhile, was pleased with Jack Blagborough's debut on loan from Sheffield.

The prop was caught napping at a kick which led to the Skolars' first try, but Ford said: "Jack carried the ball really well, he got on his front and speeded the game up. He was unlucky not to get over the line a couple of times.

"You could tell it was his first game at this intensity for a while but he will be good for these minutes and I expect him to be better next week."

He added: "All the middle unit went pretty well. London are a big team and if our attitude wasn't right we would have had our hands full."

The Skolars, second bottom in the table, were much better than when the sides last met in March, when York romped to a 78-10 iPro Sports Cup win, and Ford had praise for their new player-boss Jermaine Coleman, the ex-Knights half-back - even if he did bemoan the visitors' attempts to slow down the play, which led to a 10-4 penalty count in York's favour.

"London competed well in a lot of areas. They will knock off some teams," he said.

"Coaching and playing must be really hard - I couldn't do it - but Jermaine's making a good fist of it and he's having a positive influence there.

"I thought possibly they could have had a team warning earlier on but it must be hard to referee a team with such bad discipline.

"I would have liked the game to have been quicker but some of that responsibility has to lie with us and my players to find ways to speed things up."