YORK City Knights have fought off criticism following their decision not to bring Nathan Massey and John Davies back to the club – by arguing financial constraints played a part.

Additionally, the fall-out from that decision has led to head coach Dave Woods stressing it is he who decides which players come and go, if affordable.

In a statement, club chiefs say they have spent more money on players this season than ever before, and that they are operating to the maximum allowed under the salary cap.

And although the Knights have contemplated offloading some players to free up resources in their battle to beat relegation, the club have now announced they are setting up a new squad-builder fund in a bid to counter such limitations.

The statement followed the controversy surrounding Massey and Davies, the Castleford Tigers pair who are high in the Press Player of the Year standings.

Both could have returned on dual-registration or loan agreements this past week – and Woods was in favour of the move to bolster his pack – but the Knights’ hierarchy said no.

General manager Ian Wilson said prior to Sunday’s defeat at Featherstone they wanted instead to develop players already on the books “for the long-term good of the club”.

He also argued temporary deals left the Knights susceptible to the players being taken back by their parent club at short notice, as had happened with Massey, Davies and Jordan Thompson at Easter.

Ironically, Massey could return to the Tigers’ first team this week after fellow prop Jonathan Walker suffered a dislocated knee in their defeat to Huddersfield on Sunday.

Wilson has reiterated those arguments remain the major reasons behind the decision, rather than it being financially motivated, but the statement suggests money does come into the equation. In this instance, Cas would charge a fee for the players’ services, on top of the players’ match payments.

The statement said: “The club is currently operating to the maximum amount available under the salary cap rules. Further signings may result in us exceeding this figure, especially if there are guaranteed payments to be made and not just win/loss money.

“This year is the most we have ever spent on players, and we are doing the best we can to support the coach, but without additional income our hands are tied. As a result of this we are in the process of establishing a squad-builder fund that will enable supporters to donate money for player recruitment/ retention. Further information will follow, and we expect the fund to be in place by the end of the month.”

Woods, meanwhile, responded to rumours he has little say in player recruitment. He said: “Players are identified by myself, Ian Wilson, (club owner) John Guildford, (conditioner/assistant-coach) Alan Dickinson and (player/assistant-coach) Chris Thorman. Once identified, I decide, with the coaching team, if that player is someone we would like at the club.

“If so, it gets passed to Ian and John to look at whether the player fits into our budget. If he does, they make him an offer. I am fully aware of the financial constraints all clubs work under and respect the decisions the club make.

“With regard to outgoing players, again this is mine and the coaching team’s decision. If we wish to offer a player out on loan, such as Dennis Tuffour to Hunslet, I have the final say on whether this happens. If a club comes in for one of our players, via Ian or John, then they will talk to me and we will decide whether it is in the best interests of the club/player to allow him to move on.

“Following our promotion, we were playing catch-up with regard to recruitment as all other clubs in the Championship knew they would be playing at this level at least a month before we did. However, I was fully aware of all of the players the club were speaking to and subsequently signed.

“We did miss out on some of my targets but only because they had signed with other clubs prior to our promotion or were not within the budgets available.”