YORK City Knights are set to hand debut appearances to trialists Bradley Ward and Rory Nettleton against Midlands Hurricanes.

York named a 22-player squad ahead of Friday's friendly at the LNER Community Stadium, the Knights' first match of the year.

The squad includes trialists Ward and Nettleton, the former an ex-Hull KR academy centre and the latter a utility forward most recently part of the Newcastle Thunder squad.

Head coach Ford explained of their inclusion: “We’ve brought in Rory, a young lad who has been at Newcastle and played in France.

"Joel Edwards (former Canberra Raiders and York forward) recommended him to us.

“He’ll be on the bench, so we’ll have a good look at Rory and he’ll get plenty of minutes.

“On Brad, as I said before, I wanted to bring him into the club when we brought in Myles (Harrison), AJ (Towse) and Toby (Warren).

“I thought Brad was outstanding in that (Heworth) team - I thought that him and Myles were the best two players, to be honest.

“He went to Hull KR and in my opinion the lads we’ve got have gone past him in their improvements, if I’m honest.

"But during pre-season he’s worked really hard at his game and he’s showing some promise.

“He’s a tough, athletic three-quarter and I want to give him an opportunity.

"I like what he’s about and he’ll get at least half a game on Friday. We all want him to do well.”

Joe Brown and Jack Logan miss out as they recover from coronavirus, Brendan O'Hagan, Ronan Dixon and Sam Davis remain sidelined through injury while Chris Clarkson is rested due a minor calf issue.

In Clarkson's absence, forward Danny Kirmond will captain York.

York City Knights squad: Marsh, Glover, Ogden, Oakes, Ellis, Matongo, Jubb, Teanby, Pauli, Thompson, Stock, Kirmond, Harris, Brining, Warren, Harrison, Towse, Michael, Logan, Butterworth, Nettleton, Ward.