JAMES Ford had high praise for dual-reg winger James Clare after his four-try haul helped York City Knights thrash Gloucestershire All Golds - even if it also means he earns a recall at Castleford.

Clare was The Press man of the match as the Knights beat the expansion club 50-10 to temporarily rise back up to third in Kingstone Press League One ahead of yesterday's fixtures.

His record at York now stands at nine tries in seven appearances but head coach Ford argued there was much more to the 24-year-old than finishing prowess - and said he was the type of player "clubs should be built around".

"He's got a try every two games in Super League for Cas which is an outstanding record. But it's not just about what he does on the field," said Ford.

"He's fantastic all through the week, with his training, his talk, his attitude.

"He's what all the professionals at this club should aspire to be.

"He's played well for us every week. He works really hard and defensively he's very good. Most importantly, it's the mental side of things. He's got good leadership and positive talk. He's good to have around.

"Players like James Clare are what clubs should be built around."

Clare, who bagged four tries in nine games for Castleford early in the season to take his Tigers career tally to 24 in 39, has become one of three dual-reg regulars for York in recent weeks, alongside Michael Channing and Jordan Howden.

Asked if he was concerned his form might see parent club Cas take him back, Ford said: "My job is to develop York City Knights and win games, but I also have an emotional investment in these players and if Super League comes for them I want them to do as well as they can.

"If James plays for Castleford on the back of that or on the back of what he does for us, then I would be proud we've helped him."

Howden, meanwhile, is set for a spell on the sidelines - and in the treatment room at Cas - after being helped off the field with a potentially serious knee injury.

Conversely, team captain James Haynes came through 60 excellent minutes - and earned the sponsors' man-of-the-match award - on his return from injury.

Ford said: "Jordan came off with suspected torn ligaments. It's a blow. He's been fantastic for us. He'll go back to Cas and the medical people will look at him. Hopefully it won't be as serious as it could be."

On Haynes' performance, he said: "He was very good all-round.

"I thought he was outstanding defensively. He cleaned up a couple of really difficult balls and he saved us a couple of times with one-on-one tackles.

"He was good with the ball and did some good work in attack.

"It was a really good reintroduction to the team. He got through 60 minutes of quality work without any setbacks injury-wise."

Yesterday's results saw the Knights slip back down a place to fourth in the table but Ford knew the significance of Saturday night's victory over Gloucestershire for keeping his side in the play-off hunt, especially after last week's loss at Oldham.

He said: “It was important we got the points and it's a healthy scoreline.

“We made a few changes to the team and we anticipated being perhaps a bit less fluid than normal but the players quickly got to grips with the changes and improved through the game.

“In the first half we probably lacked composure with the ball and possibly some direction in terms of finding our start points. But we said a few things at half-time and the players responded. I could not be more pleased with what they served up in the second half.”

Ford was particularly happy with his side's defensive effort to restrict the All Golds to two tries, one from a long-range counter.

"It was frustrating to give away five or six penalties in the first half, but what that did then do was showcase our character and mental toughness to defend our goal-line as good as that," he said.

"Repelling that amount of pressure and that volume of pressure showed the togetherness of the group and how mentally strong they are."