FORMER skipper James Haynes is hoping to give promotion-chasing York City Knights a major fillip early in the Super 8s - by returning to action ahead of schedule.

Injury-plagued Haynes' excellent progress in his latest rehabilitation, this one following a knee reconstruction last year, suffered a setback this month when he needed to go under the knife again to trim troublesome cartilage.

But the never-say-die 27-year-old fan favourite, who first joined York in 2010 and went on to star as man of the match in their Grand Final victory over Oldham that year, is still hoping to be back available next month - and be heavily involved again as the team go for play-off glory once more.

Of his cartilage issue, Haynes explained: "It was getting stuck in the joint and they had to trim a bit off, so it's added a couple of weeks on.

"But I hope to be back in contention in five weeks now.

"My cousin has his own physio company and I've been doing rehab with him as well as at the club.

"I've been working really hard to get back. This was a little bit of a setback but I'm still earlier than expected."

Five weeks from now coincides with the first match in the Super 8s section of the campaign.

The Knights, joint-second in the table with only one league defeat in ten outings, would need to slip up terribly to miss out on a top-half finish with four matches of the regular season to go. The top eight qualify for the Super 8s, where they play each other again, with the top five after that going into the play-offs, in which two promotion places are up for grabs.

Full-back Haynes does not expect to breeze back into James Ford's line-up and knows he will have a big job on to usurp Richard Wilkinson or Ben Dent, who are currently vying for the number one shirt.

"I'm not expecting to get straight back in," he said. "The lads are playing really well. Rich played well (before his injury) and now Ben Dent's come in and is playing well.

"I will come back into training and try to impress the coaching staff as much as possible and win a place back in.

"Hopefully I'll get an opportunity and take it when I get it."

He added: "I've been to every game and to every training session. There's a really good feel about the place. Training is really good and the lads have worked really hard and deserve to be where they are.

"Promotion is definitely on track. The boys are working really well. Promotion is our sole aim and we will do everything we can to be able to do that. We're certainly good enough."

The luckless Haynes has been plagued by injuries in his six years at the Knights, but has battled back each time.

He missed half of 2011 with a neck injury and all of 2012 with a severe sciatic nerve issue, and he duly struggled for form and fitness in 2013, so returned to the amateur game.

With confidence and sharpness restored, he took his chance back at York in 2014 so well that he was appointed team captain for 2015 - only to sit out a big chunk of the season due to more back problems.

Then last August, four games into his return, he tore an anterior cruciate ligament in an innocuous-looking challenge against Oxford, and required a knee reconstruction.

That op, though, went well, as has rehab on the whole. He added: "When the specialist had a look at the ACL last Saturday he said it was fine and looked strong, so that's all positive and I can't wait to get back."