YORK City Knights boss James Ford has dismissed his team’s huge underdog status ahead of their title showdown at Bradford Bulls tomorrow.

The two sides are separated by only two points at the top of Betfred League One but leaders Bradford are 1-6 on with the bookmakers to take the sole automatic promotion spot come the end of term, with York distant second favourites at 9-2.

Ford, though, has paid no heed to the bookies’ reckoning ahead of a match being marketed as the Game of the Year by the rebuilding West Yorkshire giants.

He said: “I don’t really care what the odds are.

“When we kick off, whatever the odds are won’t make a difference to our mindset or our attitude.

"We're aware it's an important game and a huge challenge. We're playing a good team at their ground.

"We've had a good week in preparation. There's been a lot of fun and positive vibes around our training, and that bodes well.

"We're just looking forward to it and getting over to Odsal and playing the game."

Ford, meanwhile, says he also hasn’t considered whether the contest is likely to go down to the wire again.

The Knights have been involved in no fewer than five two-point games this season – the first coming in the reverse fixture against Bradford in front of a bumper crowd at Bootham Crescent on the opening day of the campaign, when the full-timers stole the points with a controversial long-range penalty after the final hooter.

But the other four such games have all ended in victory, the latest coming at London Skolars last Saturday. Promotion rivals Doncaster, Hunslet and Oldham have also all been edged out by such a narrow margin.

Ford was asked if he expected another such result at Odsal. “If you’re offering me a two-point win I’ll take that,” he joked.

“I’ve not thought about scorelines, only about my team's preparations, getting our performance right as a team and as individuals, and making sure we work incredibly hard.

"It's a game between two good sides. It was a cracking game last time - unfortunately we were just on the wrong side of it."

He added: "The boys have got their approach bang on and there's clarity about how we're set up.

"There's been hard work and serious moments but they've been relaxed and what they've produced in training has been quality. I've really liked what I've seen.

“It will have to be our hardest-working performance and our best performance, as Bradford are a really good side.”

Ford did, however, hail his team’s "guts and grit" and ability to come out on top in narrow games following last week's victory in the capital.

He said: “I’ve coached this club for four years and in that time we’ve lost a number of close games. But this team hasn’t lost many this year.

“We might not have not played at an outstanding level every week but we’ve shown outstanding levels of guts and grit."

Bradford boss John Kear has hinted that the Bulls' clash with play-off hopefuls Hunslet last week would have been better preparation for tomorrow's showdown than York's trip to the lowly Skolars.

But Ford was not moved. "I'm not sure it particularly matters," he said. "I'm sure John has seen our game against London and it was a pretty close shave.

"Skolars gave us a good work-out. Hats off to them, they were superb on the day.

"Last week has gone now, Bradford's game against Hunslet has gone. It's about this week and I'm happy with how we've prepared and the vibe I've got off the players."