YORK City Knights boss Mick Cook praised the commitment of his players after a battling display in the face of adversity.

The injury-hit Knights lost their opening Northern Rail Cup game 32-2 at home to holders Hull KR, but only after seeing Jamie Bovill sent off in the fifth minute.

Cook reckoned the controversial red card was "harsh" but said he would look at video evidence before making a complaint, and he concentrated more on lauding the defensive effort in his team, Rovers having scored the bulk of their points late on.

"It was a tough one for us anyway and playing virtually 80 minutes with 12 men put more pressure on us right from the start," said Cook.

"It got harder when Phil Hasty was sin-binned and we were down to 11, but we worked tremendously hard and some of our defence was outstanding.

"We need to keep improving a bit more and respect the ball a bit more. We put ourselves under too much pressure at times but I can't fault the commitment."

As for the red card, he said: "It (the tackle) was a bit reckless but a telling-off would probably have been okay. The referee could have shown a bit of compassion or common sense. It was the first game of the season and we get served up with that but we have to take it on the chin at the moment."

He added: "There were a shed-full of positives to take out of the game. I didn't think we deserved to be beaten by that margin.

"A lot of things went against us but I will look on the video before I make any complaint."

Cook said the fact three props - Dean O'Loughlin, Adam Sullivan and Craig Forsyth - and first-choice centres Dan Potter and Neil Law were ruled out "knocked us a bit", but added: "I had every confidence in the players selected."

Cook has also lost Mark Cain to a suspected serious knee problem. "He's just come back from a long-term shoulder injury and comes up with another nasty injury," he said.

"We need to keep battling on. Defensively we were very good for long periods and we showed signs we were starting to click in attack, making a few breaks. The players are starting to gel a bit and there is some cohesion taking place."

Updated: 11:46 Monday, February 13, 2006