JAMES FORD admits that York City Knights are “doing it tough at the minute” amid a growing injury list at the club.

York were missing eight key first-team players through injury ahead of the weekend’s Betfred Championship clash with Sheffield Eagles, which finished in a 20-14 defeat for the Knights.

And their problems went from bad to worse when forwards Marcus Stock and Joe Porter each went off with head knocks, with the former taken to hospital, while Will Jubb also sustained with a shoulder injury.

Ford said: “We were down to 14 for a fair portion of the game. Stocky got a real bad head cut. Joe Porter’s picked up a head knock and he’s concussed and Will’s picked up a shoulder injury.

“We’re doing it tough at the minute.”

The Knights brought in three players on loan last week, partly in an attempt to address their injury issues, and the trio of Joe Keyes, Yusuf Aydin and Lewis Peachey all came in to make their York debuts against Sheffield.

“I thought Keyes got better as the game went on and he got unlucky on a couple of occasions,” assessed Ford. “He hit Peachey on a lead line that half-penetrated and he almost made a couple of half-breaks himself.

“I think Joe will be better for playing and I’m confident that he’ll be a good signing for us.

“The two young fellas in the middle I thought did okay. I think Peachey is probably better in the back row than he is in the middle, or that’s how it looked today, and I thought Yusuf looked pretty solid.

“We are being tested with the players missing and the swapping and changing and we’re working at it.

“The boys have got a good attitude and we’ll endeavour to be better, that’s for sure.”