YORK City Knights boss James Ford expects major selection headaches at hooker in the coming weeks after Pat Smith made a seamless return to first-team action – while Kriss Brining bagged a brilliant hat-trick.

Smith, having been away working in Germany until late March, replaced Harry Carter in the 17 after the Press Player of the Month for March was given a weekend off following his sterling early-season exploits.

The 2015 club captain duly notched a try on his 2016 bow as a much-changed Knights team made it seven wins from seven so far this term and three from three in League One with a 60-6 hammering of Hemel Stags.

Fellow hooker Brining, meanwhile, notched his fifth treble in the last 12 months to underline his prowess.

Ford was also pleased with the debuts by Matty Dale and Ross Osbourne, giving further competition for places elsewhere in the pack.

The Knights head coach said: "I have good options there (at hooker), haven't I.

"Pat was good – but then he's a good player. He gave us energy out of dummy-half, he was tidy picking away at the markers and he generally helped to speed the game up.

"He's got distance to travel fitness-wise. But give him a couple of weeks and, as his timing in defence improves and his fitness improves, I will have a real selection dilemma."

On 22-year-old Brining, who turned down a move to Championship side Featherstone at the start of term, Ford said: "He was a real handful again, especially in that first stint.

"He's a very good running hooker. His skills have also improved over the last 18 or 24 months and he's getting more smartness in his play too.

"He's picking his moments to run better and he's picking up and passing off the back of quick rucks as well.

"The best hookers are a threat when they run and a threat when they run and pass and Kriss is getting that into his game."

Ford, a York player in the year Brining made his debut as a 17-year-old, added: "He's incredibly strong and has been ever since I remember. Even when he was 16 or 17, he absolutely manhandled me in training.

"He's always been a talent. As long as he keeps working hard, I'm sure he will be a player at a higher level than this."

Ford had made eight changes to the side that won at Rochdale in the iPro Cup last week, with the likes of Carter, captain Jack Aldous, Mark Applegarth, James Morland, Austin Buchanan, Brad Hey and Brett Turner all in the running to return for the Challenge Cup tie at Dewsbury Rams on Friday.

Ford said: "I've got a lot of confidence in all the players in this squad. I was happy with our go-forward. Matty Dale did well in his first game in 18 months and Ross Osbourne gave us go-forward.

"There were nine or ten players not selected and to still field a team of that calibre shows the squad is moving in the right direction.

"The owner and the board are backing me and I'm sure the public of York and North Yorkshire will get behind us in numbers and help us keep moving forward."

The victory at Pennine Way left the Knights fifth in the early League One standings with a game in hand on most teams. Only Rochdale and Toulouse also have 100 per cent league records, while Hemel were left still seeking a first win in any competition since last July.

Ford said: "I was pleased to take the points and keep this winning run going. Coming to these places can be difficult if you don't hit your standards and the game gets slow. I was pleased with the majority of what we did.

"If you look at these expansion teams, they've knocked off a couple of traditional teams on their day and we didn't want it to happen to us again.

"We had to focus on ourselves – run hard and tackle hard and then do the technical things right after that and get the points."