YORK City Knights could mathematically win the Betfred League One crown on Sunday - but boss James Ford's focus is not for shifting.

If the Knights win at minnows Hemel Stags as expected and Bradford Bulls trip up at play-off scrappers Oldham, Ford's men will be champions.

Otherwise the two-horse title race will go down to the last weekend, when the Knights face a difficult task against Whitehaven, one of only two teams to have beaten them this season. And they could well go into it without dual-reg aces Matty Marsh and Will Oakes.

Ford, though, is concentrating only on making sure his troops return from Hertfordshire with the spoils to stay ahead of the Bulls no matter what John Kear's team do.

"We're all aware Oldham are a quality side, even more so on their own ground," he said when asked if he reckoned York could be champions come Sunday night.

"But we can't control how well Oldham or Bradford play, or the weather, or what referees see and don't see.

"We can only control what we do, so we're going to focus on ourselves and make sure we're good enough to beat Hemel."

Ford is set to make a number of alterations to his line-up after bruising back-to-back wins over Workington and Oldham.

Asked if any changes were with the following weekend in mind, he said: "I've not thought about Whitehaven. I'm just thinking about Hemel and making sure our preparations are right and that we go with energy and perform better than we did last week.

"We've picked up a few bumps and bruises - we've had some tough games.

"We're 27 games into a season but the medical side and the fitness side have worked really hard this year and it's to their testament we've only got bumps and bruises.

"We will make some changes for sure this week but, as things stand, players will be available for selection the week after."

Full-back Marsh and winger Oakes, however, might not be.

Both have both been key performers in big matches this season and Ford ideally would want them especially for the Whitehaven clash, but parent club Hull KR could recall them following season-ending injuries to Adam Quinlan and Justin Carney.

Nevertheless, Ford reckoned he still had good options regardless.

"I've spoken to Hull KR and at the minute they're still working out what solutions are best for them," he explained.

"If neither are available for us, we've got some really good players waiting to come in.

"Matt Chilton has shown his potential (at full-back) and (winger) Judah Mazive has had a really good season in his first year at this level - he's been really good."