"IT doesn't matter if we're playing South Wales Scorpions or Brisbane Broncos - we'll try to play as well and as aggressively as we can."

So said York City Knights head James Ford ahead of whipping boys South Wales' visit to Bootham Crescent tomorrow (3pm).

His team - on the back of a seven-match winning start to the season prior to last week's Challenge Cup defeat at Championship side Dewsbury - head into this League One encounter as huge favourites, against a side who have won only four times since June 2013, three of them coming against London Skolars.

They have shipped more than 40 points 31 times in that period, with the Knights amassing 278 against them in five previous meetings. The Scorpions have won this term, though, against Oxford last month.

Ford has reiterated that his side - which shows four changes from last week - will not be thinking about a points target, but rather getting their performance right and "letting the scoreboard look after itself".

"We haven't thought about that," he said when asked if boosting the points-difference column is paramount tomorrow.

"There are a couple of things we want to improve on from the Dewsbury game if we want to consistently compete with and beat teams at Dewsbury's level.

"We've been working on that and I expect players to improve in those areas.

"The scoreline is irrelevant - when a team focuses on things like that, that's when things can catch up on you. We need to be focusing on our performance, discipline and aggression, and the result will look after itself."

Specifically, Ford wants improvements in the wrestle.

He explained: "Against Dewsbury it was the first time we have come up against a team who had fought that hard to win the floor. On the back of that they probably conned a couple of penalties out of a young referee.

"We need to be a little bit smarter in our wrestling and how to counteract that.

"We're not going to break any rules. We're just adjusting one or two things in our wrestle to make sure it doesn't happen again.

"We can fight a bit harder off the floor to speed things up - our ruck speed was a bit slower. It was not through lack of intent - we ran the ball in hard - but the offensive and defensive wrestle is something we can improve on."

Asked if it would be easy to tell if improvements have been made given the different calibre of opposition, Ford said: "It doesn't matter if we're playing South Wales or Brisbane - we will try to do our processes as well and as aggressively as we can.

"It's as much about decision-making within the process - selecting the right technique and the right wrestle.

"We need to improve our selection of different aspects of our process."

Ford rests 31-year-old playmaker Jonny Presley, Russ Spiers, Ed Smith and James Morland.

In come Tyler Craig at centre, Jack Anderson and Jordan Crowther in the pack, and Pat Smith at half-back.

It is the first time Danny Nicklas will partner Smith in the halves.

Explained Ford: "I'm happy with how everyone is playing. I just want to make sure they maintain those standards both in training and on game day. To do that for 30-odd games at the intensity we play at is very difficult and takes some doing.

"It's a case of pulling people before they're too fatigued or injured and help them to sustain high levels of performance for longer periods of the season.

"I'm really happy with what Prez and Danny Nicklas have been serving up. But Jonny has played eight games, 80 minutes each time. Despite his youthful smile, he's a little bit older than people think and we have to manage his minutes.

"Pat is probably more suited to hooker but he's good enough to play in the halves, as he has shown in the past."

He added: "The team we'll put out is a very good team. It's certainly not a weakened team. These boys come in fresh, trying to prove a point."

South Wales lost 30-14 at home to Hemel last week - the Stags having been thrashed 60-6 by the Knights in their previous match.

Scorpions coach Phil Carleton said: “We were poor. We prepared well and only had ourselves to blame.

“We’re a bit sore this week and we’ve got a tough test up in York.”

Centre Jordan Sheridan and half-back Christian Hawkes are both missing.

Knights (probable): Wilkinson, B Dent, Hey, Craig, Buchanan, P Smith, Nicklas, Waller, Carter, Aldous, Tonks, Anderson, Emmett. Subs: Brining, Osbourne, Applegarth, Crowther. Stand-by: Morland, Presley.

Scorpions: from Scrivens, Parker, Evans, Emanuelli, C Davies, Duffy, Hill, Vitalini, O Phillips, Connor, Baller, Gregory, Roets, Williams, Nelmes, Gaylor, Martin, Quick.