YORK City Knights will be without injured pair Jamie Ellis and Will Oakes for Sunday's trip to Workington Town (2pm).

Ellis was replaced during the first half of York's 32-6 win over Widnes Vikings just under a fortnight ago due to a hamstring injury, with the issue also seeing him miss the visit to Workington.

Oakes meanwhile picked up a groin injury in the Knights' 26-24 victory at London Broncos earlier this month and his absence from the side is set to extend to three successive matches.

“I think the break was beneficial," reflected head coach James Ford, whose side had last weekend off.

"I think it helped some of the players recover from the general soreness and bumps and bruises that you get playing rugby league week-in, week-out.

“It hasn’t been a long enough period of time for Will Oakes and Jamie Ellis to get over their minor knocks though.

“Oakes has got a groin issue which he picked up at the back end of the game against London.

"He’s not far away and we’re looking at Will being back for the Newcastle and it’s the same situation for Jamie Ellis, with a minor hamstring issue."

York suffered multiple problems in the halves last year but addressed the issue over the off-season by signing Ellis and Liam Harris while retaining Brendan O'Hagan, with the latter duo set to feature against Workington.

“We’ve got the luxury of having Brendan O’Hagan and Liam Harris fit and raring to go so there’s absolutely no need to risk Jamie Ellis this week," explained Ford.

“A lot was made about (potentially picking) two halves from three and in the last game we went for all three.

“Hopefully in the future we’re in that position again where we’ve got all three fit.

"But I’ve been doing this job a while now and the amount of times that I’ve picked one half-back or no half-back has been quite significant.

“To have three in the squad of that level is incredibly useful.”

The injury to Oakes is set to allow youngster Brad Ward to earn another appearance for York on the wing.

The 18-year-old former Heworth junior joined the Knights in late January and has quickly made a strong impression, scoring tries in successive home matches against Newcastle Thunder and Widnes Vikings.

Ford was keen to insist though: “Let’s not discount AJ Towse as well, he played very well against Newcastle too and had a strong game for Leeds Reserves (against Wigan).

“Brad will probably get the nod this week but AJ is hot on his heels. We’ve got every confidence in both of those two young men.”

York remain without Huddersfield Giants loanee forward Ronan Michael, who underwent surgery last week on his syndesmosis injury.

Ford updated: "We’re hopeful that when he gets his pot off on Monday, then he’ll be about eight weeks away.

“He’s a fit young bloke is Ronan and he’s very professional so I’m sure he’ll rip into his rehab.

“I’ve got some circles around the Sheffield and London games (in early June) and it would be awesome to have Ronan fit and back for those games to bring some energy to the team for that short turnaround.”

Hooker Kriss Brining, who was ill for the win over Widnes, is now available for selection again.