FRANCE-BOUND York City Knights' fixture list has just got worse - left facing a second trip to moneybags Toulouse this summer and potentially a third in the play-offs.

However, head coach James Ford, having long hailed his team's spirit in adversity, simply has two words for whoever deals their hand of fate - "stuff them!"

Ford's men fly out to south west France tomorrow for Saturday's top-of-the-table clash, the penultimate match of the League One campaign before the competition splits into two.

Not only will they travel light, with three key first-teamers unable to get tomorrow off work, but they have been hit by a double whammy after the format for the Super 8s part of the season was finally confirmed - showing another trip to France is afoot, barring a dramatic turnaround.

Ford has already lamented his side's fixture list in the regular season - one which he says has been heavily weighted in Toulouse's favour. And this latest news has hardly lessened his ire.

He has stressed his fired-up side can still pip Toulouse to top spot and avoid going back there, but of the fixture programme blasted: "To me the fixtures have already been so much in Toulouse's favour it's ridiculous.

"The teams they've played in France in the first stage of the competition - the disparity is amazing. They played Rochdale in England and drew, and Newcastle in England and got a narrow win. Most of the other bigger teams have had to go to France.

"Maybe it's coincidence, I don't know.

"We seem to be continually getting dealt a difficult starting hand, and things look against us yet again.

"But so far we've seemed to do pretty well with it - so stuff them."

He added: "Some of the (refereeing) calls Toulouse had in their favour at home to Doncaster were unbelievable.

"I'm expecting that again this weekend. But we like being underdogs."

To finish top, York, only two points behind Toulouse but with a far inferior points-difference, need to win in France and then have a better result at fellow promotion rivals Keighley than the Frenchmen net at London Skolars.

"You never know," said Ford of London's chances of pulling off a shock. "We have two really good teams to beat but we're very much fighting for that first place."

In the regular season this year, the 15 teams play each other home or away.

The top eight after that go into the Super 8s, with the top four rewarded with four home games and three away. The other four have three home games and four away.

However, rather than swap home advantage from previous meetings, the Super 8s has another convoluted structure - detailed at the end of this article - in which the away games for the teams in both second and third include a trip to the team in first.

And, with Toulouse odds-on to finish top and York three points clear of fourth, that means the Knights may well have to dig out their passports again.

Furthermore, with higher-placed teams getting home advantage in the play-offs, the two rivals could meet yet again at Olympique's Stade Ernest Argeles come the end of the summer.

Said Ford of the format: "There's nothing we can do about it. We have to play good teams home and away regardless and every game will be competitive - that's the aim of the Super 8s.

"I'm not entirely sure, however, that the league have it 100 per cent worked out.

"We're all looking forward to playing in the Super 8s - but what kind of benefit the logistical nightmare brings to rugby league, I don't know.

"Asking part-time teams to go abroad to play a full-time team not just once but maybe twice or even three times in a season?

"I'm not sure if that's just unfortunate or worse than that."

So far, the Knights have had home advantage against rivals in the top six only once - the win over Rochdale. The games against the other four - Barrow, Doncaster and, to come, Toulouse and Keighley - are all away.

Toulouse, conversely, were given home advantage over three of those same teams, playing away twice.

"We've only played one of the top six at home, then when we look at where we could finish, we might have to go back to Toulouse again.

"It's not ideal is it, especially when half of our group work in education.

"It's difficult to get the time off. To have to do it once is bad enough but twice or three times? It's not the way I would've organised it.

"We've got people who can't have the time off work this weekend. It's impossible for some, especially in term time for people working in education."

Ford himself works at Wakefield College with player/assistant Mark Applegarth and conditioner Mark Helme, while Matty Dale, Kriss Brining and Ross Divorty also teach.

Dale misses Saturday's game, as do Sam Smeaton and Rich Wilkinson due to vocational exams. Divorty likewise wouldn't have travelled but is injured anyway.

"It was touch and go whether I'd be able to go myself," said Ford.

"To ask people to take more time off is not on. Imagine a teacher asking for time off in September when the school year starts.

"It all needs thinking through. It's only going to get worse next year with Toronto coming in."

The only way second-placed York can avoid a Super 8s trip to Toulouse is by finishing first - highly unlikely - or fourth.

For fourth, they'd need to lose their last two games while fourth-placed Doncaster, three points adrift, win both of theirs and third-placed Rochdale, currently below the Knights on points-difference, also eke ahead.

Doncaster face lowly Hemel this weekend while Rochdale host Keighley. The Dons and Rochdale then meet on the last day.

However, finishing fourth arguably makes it harder to get into the top two come the end of the Super 8s, the reward for which is two bites of the cherry in the top-five play-offs.

Super 8s fixture structure:

Team in 1st: home to 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th; away to 4th, 7th 8th.

Team in 2nd: home to 3rd, 4th, 6th, 7th; away to 1st, 5th, 8th.

Team in 3rd: home to 4th, 5th, 7th, 8th; away to 1st, 2nd, 6th.

Team in 4th: home to 1st, 5th, 6th, 8th; away to 2nd, 3rd, 7th.

Team in 5th: home to 2nd, 6th, 7th; away to 1st, 3rd, 4th, 8th.

Team in 6th: home to 3rd, 7th, 8th; away to 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th.

Team in 7th: home to 1st, 4th, 8th; away to 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th.

Team in 8th: home to 1st, 2nd, 5th; away to 3rd, 4th, 6th, 7th.

Current standings

Toulouse P12 W11 D1 L0 F606 A166 Pts23

York City Knights P12 W10 D1 L1 F448 A178 Pts21

Rochdale Hornets P12 W10 D1 L1 F484 A216 Pts21

Doncaster P12 W9 D0 L3 F411 A265 Pts18

Barrow Raiders P13 W8 D1 L4 F453 A241 Pts17

Keighley Cougars P12 W8 D0 L4 F458 A298 Pts16

London Skolars P12 W7 D0 L5 F319 A302 Pts14

Hunslet Hawks P13 W7 D0 L6 F348 A344 Pts14

North Wales P12 W5 D1 L6 F286 A300 Pts11

Newcastle Thunder P12 W5 D1 L6 F302 A332 Pts11

Coventry Bears P12 W3 D0 L9 F251 A424 Pts6

Gloucestershire P12 W2 D0 L10 F260 A422 Pts4

Oxford P12 W1 D0 L11 F186 A520 P2

South Wales P12 W1 D0 L11 F144 A514 Pts2

Hemel Stags P12 W1 D0 L11 F152 A586 Pts2