YORK City Knights boss Mick Cook has refused to make any outlandish statements about success in the coming season - instead sticking with the old 'one game at a time' clich.

The former Sheffield Eagles star, who led Leeds Rhinos Academy to their Grand Final last season, is confident his side will be competitive in what promises to be a tough LHF Healthplan National League Two. But he is aware they will need to be "on the ball" to be in the promotion race.

"We're keeping our feet on the ground and not making bold statements about winning this or winning that," he told the Evening Press.

"I'm not sure you can do that in any sport. You can have confidence but there are too many things that can happen in a season that can affect things.

"We just want to go out and prepare well, work hard and play well on a weekly basis. We're not looking too far ahead, rather to take one game at a time and get our performances right. If so we will be very competitive.

"I think the league itself will be very competitive this year. With the recruitment other teams have made, we will need to be on the ball, on top of our game, and hopefully the results will come our way."

Cook has had his new charges in pre-season for over a month now, with the club's new tie-up with Leeds enabling them to at times use the Rhinos' state-of-the-art facilities at Kirkstall.

"Things are going pretty well," said Cook.

"The lads are a good bunch of blokes and are working very hard.

"Going to Leeds gives us the chance to get real quality sessions in and keep off the (Huntington Stadium) pitch and so keep that in as good a condition as we can."

As reported in yesterday's Evening Press, Chris Spurr broke an ankle playing for GB Students on Wednesday, leaving the Knights to up their search for another centre.

"It looks like he's got a pretty serious injury," added Cook.

"It's early days yet but he's going to be out for a long time. It was a normal challenge but it was one of those things.

"He's a good bloke, trains well and has a good attitude. It's a shame we've lost him but I'm sure he will be back."

Updated: 08:57 Saturday, December 18, 2004