HEAD coach James Ford says York City Knights' attacking exploits will have to be "right on the money" on Sunday as they bid to muck up Oldham's 2018 clean sheet.

The Roughyeds are yet to concede a point this season after winning 14-0 at Whitehaven on the opening day of the Betfred League One campaign and following up with a 42-0 home triumph over amateurs Featherstone Lions in the Challenge Cup, before Sunday's game against Hemel Stags was postponed.

It is the first time in over half a century that they have gone two games without conceding a point, laying a platform for a bid to bounce straight back up to the Championship after relegation last term.

And Ford believes it is one of the reasons Scott Naylor's men will be favourites going into this weekend's clash.

"Regardless of who the opposition is, it's really good, and something they should be proud of," said Ford of the Lancastrians' shut-outs so far.

"They've got a good defensive record and we will need to be right on the money.

"They're favourites. They're one of the relegated teams and are fancied by many to be up there with Bradford come the end of the season.

"But bookmakers' odds don't interest us. We will focus on our performance and on hitting our standards and, if we improve in one or two areas, I'm sure that will get us in and around come the end of the game."

Oldham also conceded only six points in their final friendly of pre-season - an eye-opening thrashing of League One rivals Keighley Cougars.

"They play very differently to us," added Ford. "That does not make it any less effective - in fact it's really effective.

"I watched their game against Keighley on video and they were really good - they blew Keighley away. Keighley could not live with them in contact.

"When they get on the front foot they're a hard team to handle.

"You would be naive to rule Oldham out from challenging the other so-called fancied teams."

It is unclear if any dual-reg Hull KR players will be in the mix this week to bolster Ford's tactical plan to turn the Roughyeds over.

Certain players were initially made available for last weekend's postponed match at Coventry Bears but were later withdrawn after Rovers had to change their own plans.

Ford said: "We have had discussions (with Hull KR). Things change through the week, as we have seen before, but there's a strong relationship between the clubs. We will make those decisions further down the line. We will see which players if any are offered up and how people go in training."

He added of his selection thoughts: "Oldham will be a formidable test for us, a real physical challenge, certainly around the ruck. We need to pick a team that suits and try to expose their weaknesses - they don't have many.

"We will play the style that suits us - we fancy ourselves as a decent team also. But we will look to tweak one or two things to try to improve our chances of winning the game.

"We don't need to adjust too much but you have to respect the strengths in the other team. Each team defends and attacks slightly differently. You have to try to handle them and expose any possible weaknesses as best you can."