JAMES FORD has called on his York City Knights players to "do their skipper proud" in their push for promotion - in the likelihood the popular full-back will play no further part in their campaign.

Team captain James Haynes was stretchered off during the second half of Sunday's League One win over Oxford, and while X-rays have shown no broken bones, he is now awaiting an MRI scan which is expected to confirm he has torn the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.

It can take anything from six months to a year to recover from ACL surgery and, in worst-case scenarios, such an injury can be career ending.

It is the latest in a long line of rotten luck for the 26-year-old, who missed all of 2012 with back problems linked to a serious sciatic nerve problem and spent much of 2013 in the amateur game as he rediscovered fitness and form.

After his successful return in 2014, he was given the armband this year but also missed 12 games between April and early July as the old back complaint resurfaced.

Ford has backed his "friend and skipper" to bounce back yet again - and in the meantime has urged his team to do the business on the field in his honour.

"Our fingers are crossed for James. He's a big part of this club on and off the field," said the head coach, recalling the moment the full-back cried out in agony in an innocuous-looking tackle.

"The boys are gutted for him. As his friend I'm devastated and as his coach I'm equally devastated. He's got a young family and everybody at the club is devastated.

"It was one of the most difficult moments I've had to face in my time as coach - seeing someone I played with for four years and am friends with suffer an injury like that while I was stood metres away from his family.

"He's had a whole heap of bad luck but he's such a mentally strong person - you have to be to come back from the setbacks he's had, with the injuries and coaching decisions he's dealt with. He's always in my opinion conducted himself really well.

"He's played a big part in this team's development and if there's one player who can come back from this latest setback it's James."

Hull-based Haynes first arrived at York in mid-2010 and quickly achieved hero status with a man-of-the-match performance in the Championship One Grand Final triumph over Oldham that year. Ford joined the club the following year.

The head coach added: "I know what the boys think of James and I think this will pull them even closer together as a group and hopefully spur them on for the last rounds of the season."

Ford now faces a selection dilemma ahead of Sunday's trip to London Skolars.

Winger Ben Dent, who played at full-back during Haynes' absence earlier this year, could return to that berth, with brother Adam or pace ace Jamel Chisholm going on to the wing. Chisholm recently returned from a loan spell with the Skolars.

Another option is to play Jordan Howden at full-back - he played there last week at Coventry while Haynes was rested - and have Pat Smith re-form his half-back partnership with Jonny Presley, with Harry Carter or Casey Canterbury retaking Smith's role at hooker.

Said Ford: "We will miss James and his leadership on and off the field, there's no way around that, but we do have good options.

"They're all good players. They're at different stages in their development but they wouldn't be here if I didn't think they could develop into really good players. I'm very confident they will perform to a high standard.

"All of the squad are disappointed James won't be out there with them but I'm sure they will want to do him proud."