YORK City Knights head coach James Ford is ready to shake-up his side for today's Kingstone Press League One game against Doncaster at Bootham Crescent (3pm).

Stung by back-to-back defeats against Oxford and North Wales Crusaders, Ford's options will be boosted by the return of a number of key players.

And Ford insists that no-one should stand up and complain if they are axed after the team's disappointing results in the last two games.

"When someone gets injured, it gives someone else an opportunity," he said. "But there are players who have not taken that opportunity in the last couple of weeks. Others will come back in and keep their places as long as they keep playing well."

Ford expressed anger at the absence of 'grit and fight' in last weekend's 35-28 defeat at expansion club Oxford and also claimed his team had been 'carrying too many people mentally'.

But today's line-up is likely to feature Adam Robinson, Ash Robson, Pat Smith, Andy Ellis, and David Foggin-Johnston who have all shaken off the injuries that ruled them out of last weekend's game.

Former York Acorn loose forward Joe Porter has also recovered from illness but second rower Liam Thompson (groin) and Joe Batchelor (ankle) are still sidelined.

On loan centre Nick Rawsthorne, stands-by to make his home debut but hooker Harry Carter - a stand-out performer against Oxford - is struggling with a calf strain.

Ford is demanding a positive reaction from his players against a Doncaster side who will also be hurting after an 82-6 defeat last weekend against table-toppers Toronto Wolfpack.

"The good thing about a sport like rugby league is that you get an opportunity to right the wrongs of your previous game pretty quickly," said Ford.

"We had a review of our game on Tuesday. You can't be too hard on people but we now have a clarity of where we need to do things better.

"Our performance was not too far away in the first half against Oxford," he insisted. "Our shape was good and so was our movement - but they scored tries from errors on our 20.

"We could have gone in 28-0 up at halftime and it would not have been an unfair reflection on the game but, in the second half, we just fell away and made basic errors which were compounded by penalties. We gave Oxford too many opportunities.

"So I am looking for a response and we have spoken about that," Ford stressed. "It's important that we improve our concentration and cut out basic errors.

"It's also important that we defend better," he added. "Over the last two years, our defending has been strong in contact and aggression - but we have not hit that standard this season."