YORK City Knights will be without as many as 12 players for Friday night's Betfred Challenge Cup tie against Wigan Warriors (7.45pm).

York have suffered a series of short to medium term injuries on the eve of the third round tie at the LNER Community Stadium.

Jack Teanby, Jordan Baldwinson, Danny Kirmond and Brendan O’Hagan all picked up injuries against Toulouse Olympique while Jason Bass, Chris Clarkson, Kriss Brining and Toby Warren and Morgan Smith were already missing from the Betfred Championship season opener.

Ben Jones-Bishop, Ryan Atkins and Riley Dean are also unavailable, with the former two carrying short-term issues while the latter is cup-tied by parent club Warrington Wolves.

Knights head coach James Ford said: “Morgan is a long-term one (ACL) and I’d probably say the longest-term one after that is Jack Teanby, who’s having an operation on his thumb tomorrow (Friday) and then he’ll be out for around four weeks.

“On Jack, I know Toulouse had a couple of knocks early on, but we were down to 15 players as well and then Jack Teanby has dislocated his thumb and has played in his second stint with a dislocated thumb for us.

“You can’t knock that type of commitment. We’re going to miss him know for around four or five weeks, but when the boys are that committed you have got to believe that you’ve got something.”

Similarly, half-back O’Hagan tweaked his hamstring against Toulouse but soldiered on to complete the full 80 minutes.

Ford added: “I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Brendan picks up a knock and we start to fall away a little bit. He’s had a scan on it on Tuesday and there’s a really small tear in there and hopefully he’ll be alright for Sheffield.”

Ford also hopes that Bass (dead leg), Clarkson (Achilles) and Kirmond (shoulder) will be available for the Sheffield Eagles league game next week. Prop Baldwinson and Brining look more likely for returns when York travel to Swinton Lions on April 25.

Jones-Bishop and Atkins are thought not to be major concerns either, but Ford did not want to risk the pair for fear of further damage to the pair.

On Jones-Bishop, Ford said: “He has come out of (Covid-19) isolation and we had to get him through some volume (in training) because he’s been stuck in his house for 10 days.

“He has pulled up a little tight with his hamstring and he’s pulled out as more of a precaution. If it was a Grand Final, could Ben play this week? Yeah. But would there be a risk that he could tear it? Yes.

“Ryan Atkins has got an MRI scan on Tuesday on his knee. He picked up some swelling from the London pitch. We’re hopeful that the MRI will show us that it’s just the field that’s caused the swelling and that there’s nothing major on top of that.”

Despite such a length injury list, Ford remains upbeat and says that he is excited about the 17 he will field against Wigan.

“Apart from Morgan, there’s nothing long-term. It’s all short and medium term stuff. If you look at the injuries, they’re all unlucky. Is it due to the players not playing for a year? Potentially.

“But it is what it is. Every club is going to go through this. And if you look through the 17 we’re fielding on Friday, it’s a good 17 and there’s some excitement in there, even with all those players missing. We’re certainly not getting our violins out.”

The Knights’ predicament does though provide an opportunity for two young local talents - in Myles Harrison and AJ Towse - to stake their claims for more minutes in the future.

Ford revealed: “Both will make their debuts, Myles will be at full-back and AJ will be on the bench and we’re planning to bring him on on the wing.

“They’ve not missed a minute of our training since they came into the group last November and the amount of extras that they’ve done at the club and away from the club has been immense.

“Their improvements physically has been very notable and their improvement in terms of skill and understanding is great.

“I think it shows to other young lads in the area that there is a opportunity to play for the Knights. I think it highlights the importance of having a good attitude and obviously they’ve both got some natural ability.

“But their main feature, for me, is their ability to learn and work hard.

“I’m looking forward to it. Myles does some really good things at full-back and in the halves at training and he’s unpicked us a few times. AJ is as quick as anyone we’ve got and he’s competitive.

“It’s going to be a challenge for them, because Wigan are a top side and I’ll learn a lot about them.”