TOULOUSE Olympique might be the free-scoring unbeaten moneybags boys of Kingstone Press League One - but York City Knights boss James Ford has a cunning plan to topple them.

The flamboyant full-time French outfit not only sit pretty atop the table a fortnight before the Super 8s but they also provide four of the leading five try-scorers.

However, while Ford points out no promotion prizes are to be won just yet, he remains adamant his battling braves, second in the standings two points adrift, can leave their mark in tonight's crunch clash at Stade Ernest Argeles (6.30pm local time) and draw level with their hosts at the summit.

And he has intimated he might surprise them with a tactical switch to do so.

"They look a handful, but you'd expect that of a full-time team," said Ford.

"But we want to show they can be beaten in France.

"We've got a number of people unavailable, but we might have something a bit different up our sleeves for them, you never know."

James Morland was the latest withdrawal due to an eye injury at work.

Fellow centre Sam Smeaton, Matty Dale, Richard Wilkinson and Harry Carter were already unable to travel while big Brett Waller stayed home for a third week having recently become a new dad.

All three half-backs - Danny Nicklas, Jonny Presley and new points-machine Harry Tyson-Wilson - have travelled and there is a suggestion all three may feature.

With Carter at home, reinstating Pat Smith at hooker was an easy decision. It will be Smith's 100th career appearance.

In a surprise, though, namesake Andy Smith is set to start at centre, picked ahead of Tyler Craig and Brad Hey.

The hard-running 31-year-old former Bradford threequarter has played only 40 minutes of rugby in three and a half years - entering on the wing in the second stanza of last week's win over Gloucestershire All Golds.

But Ford said: "It's a big step up but he's played at centre at a higher level and I'm sure he'll take it in his stride.

"Tyler is still suffering a bit with his hamstring and there are one or two areas in Brad Hey's game I'd like him to work on - which he is doing.

"It was a close call but I've gone with Andy for tactical reasons. He's also a confident man, he's trained for a while, he's fit and he'll bring his fair share to the game.

"He coped fine on the wing last week, a position that is aerobically more demanding than centre, and he's in good nick. He'll be more than okay."

Toulouse beat Championship leaders Leigh in the Challenge Cup this year and pushed Super League Wakefield close before losing 40-22 - their only defeat of term.

The only League One point they have dropped came at Rochdale, and they have by far the best points-difference courtesy of tries from the competition's leading scorer, PNG threequarter Kuni Minga (16), plus Mark Kheirallah (14), Danny Hulme (12) and Tony Maurel (11).

York's Kriss Brining pierces that quintet with 15.

Aussie half-back/full-back Kheirallah, with 80 goals, is also the runaway leader in the point-scoring charts, with 216 - averaging 18 per game in a team average of 50 per game.

Said Ford of the test afoot: "It's going to be up there. Toulouse haven't dropped a point in France and they play an attractive attacking brand.

"But we'll be confident. We back our systems and our skills. We're looking forward to it. It won't be the first time we meet this season and we want to leave a mark."

Asked the importance of the contest in the year as a whole, he said: "No-one's going to get promoted this weekend.

"But we want to beat them and increase our chances of finishing top in the first stage of the competition."

Toulouse: from Kheirallah, Maurel, Ader, White, Minga, Ford, Boyer, K Bentley, Masselot, Planas, Curran, Kriouache, Puech, Canet, Marion, Hepi, Hulme, Leha, Constantine.

Knights: from B Dent, Saxton, E Smith, A Smith, Buchanan, A Dent, Nicklas, Presley, Tyson-Wilson, P Smith, Brining, Aldous, Applegarth, Spiers, Anderson, Tonks, Crowther, Robinson, Emmett.