FORMER York City Knights player-boss Paul March knows emotions will run high at Huntington Stadium tomorrow – but has played down talk of a potential blood fest.

The visit of Hunslet was the game most Knights fans looked to first when the fixture list was drawn up as it sees the return to Monks Cross of a plethora of players who quit York in the winter.

No fewer than 11 ex-Knights are in March’s 19-man provisional squad tomorrow, eight of whom played for York last year. Two more, back-rowers Rob Kelly and Richard Knight, are ruled out by injury.

March said those players – particularly that octet – were excited about facing their former club but said leaving with the spoils was more important than personal points.

“It’s one the players are looking forward to,” March told The Press. “It’s going to be exciting for them. There will be a lot of emotion in it.”

But when asked if there was a danger emotions could boil over, he said: “I don’t think so. The players know what we expect of them and the York players will know what James Ratcliffe (Knights head coach) expects of them. Emotions will be high but I don’t think it will be as fiery as people make out.

“It’s another game. Both clubs want to win it for their own causes.”

March was controversially sacked by the Knights last July, soon becoming player-coach at Hunslet – and leading his new troops to victory at Huntington Stadium a few weeks later.

Wayne McHugh, Scott Woodcock and Danny Ekis followed him to south Leeds before the campaign was out, and his brother and fellow star man David March, along with John Oakes, Adam Sullivan, Dave Clayton, Danny Grimshaw, Knight and Kelly all made the same switch in the off-season.

Neil Lowe, Joe Helme and Darren Robinson are other ex-Knights in the Hawks’ party tomorrow.

March said: “I’m looking forward to going back (to York), but I looked forward to it last time.

“But it’s not about me or the ex-York players in our team. It’s about Hunslet and York and hopefully it will be a good game and one everyone will enjoy.”

March’s team lie second in Championship One with only one defeat all term – to an Oldham side whose only defeat, in turn, was to the Knights last week.

Said March, who has been delighted with his team’s form: “Scoring points comes naturally to us. But defence is where it will be won and lost tomorrow.

“In pre-season people had York down as one of the title favourites with us, Oldham and Blackpool. But they’ve had a lot of turnaround of players so it was going to take time. We have had a big turnaround as well but a lot of our players have played alongside each other for some time.

“Their result at Oldham last week might kick-start them off. But if we win it puts a lot of daylight between ourselves and York.”