JAMES FORD has challenged York City Knights’ returning players to “set the standards and drive our energy” against London Broncos on Sunday (3pm).

Having won 34-14 at Sheffield Eagles yesterday, York have a quick turnaround when they host London this weekend.

The Knights came away from Sheffield without anyone being withdrawn through injury and are set to recall five players who did not feature in South Yorkshire against London.

The most senior of that returning crop is half-back Jamie Ellis, who missed out on the Eagles trip through illness.

"He had a bug on Tuesday night and we hoped that it would settle down,” reported head coach James Ford.

“We thought about putting him on the bench and bringing him on the second half, if we needed him.

“But we had reservations over that, certainly with our history of injuries to half-backs.

“We left him out but he should be good to go on Sunday as should Jacob Ogden, Sam Davis, Toby Warren and Brad Ward.

“We’ve got those five fresh bodies who will come in and give us a boost. We’ll be looking to them to really set the standards and drive our energy.

“Plus there’s some experienced players that are used to playing Easter weekends and this isn’t quite as challenging as an Easter weekend.

“We’ve got some players who know how to manage their bodies throughout these kinds of periods.”

York’s opponents London squandered the chance to move out of the relegation places on Thursday as they lost 32-18 at bottom club Workington Town for the Cumbrian club’s first league win of the year.

Without a permanent head coach following Jermaine Coleman’s departure last month, the second-from-bottom Broncos are facing a genuine battle against the drop.

“I feel a bit sorry for London to some degree,” said Ford. “They’ve travelled up to Workington and then they’re travelling up to York. But we’ll take that.

“They’ve got some good individuals. (Dean) Parata and Rhys Curran are two outstanding individuals. Parata is one of the best nines or 14s in the competition.

“They’ve got some really talented athletes who, if you give them space, they’re going to punish you, so we’ll have our hands full.”