YORK City Knights are looking to put down a marker for the Championship One season against London Skolars in the Northern Rail Cup tomorrow (2pm).

Player-coach Paul March not only wants a win to put his side into the next stage of the competition – he wants his men to make a statement of intent ahead of the start of the league campaign on March 22.

“We need to set our stall out for the league season,” March said.

“London Skolars have had a lot of changes in personnel and I am pleased with the way things have been going.

“The commitment has been good, everyone is busting a gut and that’s making the team spirit so good.

“It has showed on and off the field. It’s improving us as a team.

“We have got a lot of the same personnel still at the club and I think we go about things a little bit differently now. Everybody is keen to improve.”

Looking to bounce back after a 40-28 defeat at Batley last week, March has been boosted by the availability of prop Adam Sullivan, who appears to have overcome a dead leg.

He added: “Obviously we checked on him on Tuesday and Thursday night.

“It has gone well and we are quietly confident he will be fit for tomorrow. It was a dead leg and he has found it hard to shrug it off.”

Tom Hodgson, Mike Mitchell, Chris Clough and Danny Grimshaw are added to the 17-man squad which played against Batley and, although a losing bonus point would probably be enough to put the Knights into the next stage of the Northern Rail Cup, March has nothing but victory on his mind.