YORK City Knights head coach James Ford believes backing from the home support tomorrow will be key to helping the “massive underdogs” compete against Catalans Dragons.

Ticket sales have been hugely encouraging for the club ahead of the fifth-round Ladbrokes Challenge Cup tie against the Betfred Super League stalwarts while the fixture will also be streamed live on the BBC website.

With online sales, purchases from the ticket office and anticipated numbers of walk-ups on the turnstiles on the day, the club are expecting a good turnout.

York have been no strangers to sizeable crowds this campaign – the Bradford Bulls game on the opening day of the season was watched by a record 4,281 fans while Keighley Cougars attracted just shy of 1,500.

The Knights, who are enjoying the general good feeling around the club, are expecting a crowd tomorrow on a par with Bulls and will open the third stand of Bootham Crescent for the first time since that fixture.

However, the Knights’ boss has insisted his team will be playing the game and not the occasion.

Ford said: “Obviously we’re excited to host a Super League side and we’re looking forward to challenging ourselves against them.

“We’re also pleased the club has been innovative and we’re looking forward to playing in front of a big crowd.

“But we’re focusing on our performance and ourselves. If we achieve enough of that, we’ll have enough to put Catalans under pressure.

“As the home side, the supporters will play a huge role. We’re massive underdogs and if the supporters can get behind us that’ll even out the playing field.

“I know the boys love playing in front of the crowd here – it helps them find extra energy.

“There’s a real buzz around the city for rugby league and the club’s making huge strides on the field.

“Catalans, coming from France, we don’t expect them to bring many supporters. We want to make it a good atmosphere for York and hostile for Catalans.”

Knights general manager Neil Gulliver said of the sales: “We’re doing really well. We’ve got strong online sales and a lot of people coming into the office.

“I’ve been here three years and this season we have had far and away more ticket sales than have been in the past.

“There’s a lot of positivity around the club.”