YORK City Knights have been hit with a major blow ahead of Sunday's vital match at title rivals Workington as head coach Mick Cook has been laid low with mumps.

The 43-year-old went to hospital for a tetanus jab after cutting his thumb - only to then discover he had contracted the contagious viral illness.

He has gone into quarantine so as not to risk infecting anyone else at the club, with player-consultant Daryl Powell taking over team affairs in the meantime.

"Daryl will head up the ship this week," confirmed Cook, who still hopes to be able to travel to Workington for the LHF National League Two clash.

"I'm sure the preparation won't be affected too much because he's a very experienced professional."

Powell's involvement at Huntington Stadium, arranged through the Knights' link-up with Super League champions Leeds Rhinos in the off-season, was set to end last month when he took on a coaching role at Leeds Tykes RUFC, but the former Rhinos boss agreed to continue as an assistant to Cook for the remainder of the season.

Ironically, Cook has warned that his side cannot suffer 'travel sickness' if they are to sustain a stranglehold on the title race.

Cook's men must overcome the second-best home record in professional rugby league on Sunday in order to stay clear at the top. With most of their games in the second half of the season away from home, they will have to maintain good away form to stay ahead.

Said the crocked chief: "We've only got four games left at home so we need to be able to go places and get points."

Workington's last home defeat was against Sheffield back in May 2004 - only Whitehaven have gone longer without a loss on their own turf - and they have since gone 14 matches unbeaten at Derwent Park, a run which includes a 44-20 defeat of York last season and a derby cup victory over NL1 high-fliers 'Haven this term.

Said Cook: "That record speaks for itself. It will be a very physical game. They have a big pack, with some overseas guys in there, and Lusi Sione the full-back is very dangerous. They're quite experienced and difficult to beat on their home turf. Our approach needs to be bang on."

Cook has played down the one-off importance of this encounter but concedes it is a proverbial four-pointer.

"It's worth the same as any other game - two points," he said. "But they're on our heels, so it's a four-pointer in that sense. They need the game to stay in contention and we need to put some more distance between us."

He added: "We'll do the same as we did for London (ten days ago), staying over on the Saturday to ease the journey. Hopefully we can get our performance right on the back of that.

"We were a little bit off the boil at London but I don't think we'll get away with being off the boil at Workington."

Sheffield toppled Town again at Don Valley Stadium in their last match, which left the Cumbrians down in fifth, but they are still only four points off York and Cook warned: "They'll be smarting from that.

"When you lose having played well enough to win, it's a bit more disappointing sometimes than when you play poorly. They'll be frustrated."

Updated: 10:29 Wednesday, June 22, 2005