THERE will be no complacency in the York City Knights' camp for the visit of Workington – last Sunday's defeat at Keighley has put paid to that.

The Cumbrians head to Bootham Crescent tomorrow less than a month on from their 34-0 defeat at the same venue during the regular League One season.

Workington may also be eighth of the Super 8s, but Knights boss James Ford insists they will be no pushovers – and cites his side's disappointing 22-20 loss at Cougar Park as a key reason why his line-up will be fully switched on.

“There’ll be no complacency after what happened to us last week," he confirmed. "Our pride is a bit dented from that loss at Keighley where we were really poor.

"The good thing is that you don’t turn into a bad player or a bad team overnight. It was key that we got that message across to the players this week – one, that it’s not acceptable to play to the level we did; and two, they’re still a good team and we really believe in them.

“As for Workington, two weeks ago they had an outstanding result against Newcastle. They looked like a top draw side, certainly in possession.

"We’ve had a good look at that game and we think they are going to come here and really challenge us. We know that we’ll have to be right at our best.

"They’ll have a point to prove after the last time we played them at our place and we’ll go into the game expecting a real tough encounter – just like all the Super 8s game should be."

Workington's sit just five points behind the fourth-placed Knights in the standings, showing once again the competitiveness of the Super 8s.

Ford continued: “Toronto aside, you’ve got seven teams who are all pretty capable of beating one another, so the team that comes with the most focus and desire are the team that takes the points.

“It’s a game that we need to perform well in – we need to learn a few lessons from last week and show some character to ensure we bounce back. If we do that we’ll be all be happy.

“If we can perform to the levels that I know we’re capable of the league table will take care of itself. We don’t want to get caught up thinking too far ahead. We just know that we need to turn up tomorrow prepared to work really hard."

After the landmark victory over Toronto Wolfpack the weekend before, last Sunday's defeat to the Cougars brought Ford and his men crashing down to earth. The Knights head coach is determined that level of performance isn't repeated.

“There are a number of areas we need to improve on from the Keighley game," he added. "I’m not going to identify them too publicly but the message is clear to the players – we had a look at what we’ve done previously and what we were supposed to do, and then at what we did last Sunday. It was important that they understood why they didn’t win.

"There’s no point coming in and not establishing why we lost and then making the same mistakes again. They understand that, they’re a smart bunch, and I’m sure we’ll see a much better performance from them this weekend.

“The players came back into training with the perfect attitude. They were really keen to have a look at what we did in video and I was pleased that one or two people put their points across.

"We went out and worked really hard on Tuesday and did the same later in the week, and it was a good response. It was a response that highlighted the resilience of the group and I’m looking forward to seeing that put into action tomorrow.”