HEAD coach James Ford has admitted defeat in last year's League One Cup final still rankles with him - but he has avoided saying he wants to go one better this year.

Ford's York City Knights outfit knocked out old foes Hunslet and shocked current Championship side Rochdale on the way to last year's final in Blackpool.

But the Minster city side then fell 22-18 to Keighley, thinking they had won it with a late Ed Smith touchdown only to concede a sucker punch try in the dying moments.

They kick off the 2017 campaign tomorrow with a first round tie at home to North Wales Crusaders.

"We enjoyed the cup run last year," said Ford. "We were excellent in the competition up until Blackpool.

"That still sits with me quite sorely. We had been so dominant in the competition until then and we let ourselves down a little bit."

Last year's team had targeted lifting the trophy. Asked if this year's much-changed squad were doing likewise, Ford said: "We again want to do our very best.

"We haven't set any targets about winning it. We will take every game as it comes and perform to out utmost and, if we do that, we'll have a good chance of progressing."

Asked how important it was to begin the new dawn at the club with a victory, he said: "I think it's important to start with a good performance and one that resembles how we've been practising.

"Preparation has been good and I've been impressed by a lot of things, including aspects of the trial games.

"It's about getting more patches together where we're consistently doing the right things. These patches will grow through the season and I'm sure we will evolve into an even better team."

Meanwhile, season tickets will again be available at Bootham Crescent tomorrow, from the club shop. These cover the league programme and Super 8s section of the season, but not cup ties like the game tomorrow.

The new-look Knights are in the process of securing new offices, while their official website will be relaunched next month.

In the meantime, fans are advised the best way to contact the club away from matchdays is via social media - the clubs' Facebook and Twitter accounts - or by emailing info@ycknights.co.uk