Jacob Ogden 'could be available' for York City Knights

Ogden has played just one of York's last five matches amid concussion and ankle issues during an injury-hit campaign in which he has played just seven times since his off-season move from London Broncos.

The centre trained with the Knights on Tuesday though and could come back into the fold for this weekend's home Betfred Championship clash with Barrow Raiders.

“Jacob got through Tuesday's session with no issues," reported head coach Ford. "He could be available for selection this week.

“He might make the 21 but we’ll see how the rest of the team pull through training. But it’s a real positive to have Jacob even on the periphery of being back."

On fellow back Will Oakes, who has not played since May's 40-24 defeat to Halifax Panthers due to a groin problem, Ford said: “That's a little bit more complicated because it’s an inflammatory condition. He trained on Tuesday and got through his recovery stuff.

“I’ve spoken to him and his groin is sweet but he’s just got some discomfort in his abdominal. We’ll see what the medical team think about that.

“Part of osteitis pubis is that it isn’t going to disappear overnight, there’s going to be a little bit of managing the symptoms until the end of the season.

“But obviously those symptoms needs to be manageable and we’ll get Will to that place and we’ll go from there.”

Second-row Danny Kirmond, missed last weekend's 40-16 win at Whitehaven due to a family bereavement with his availability as yet unknown.

Ford said: “I’m hoping Kirmo will be at training tonight. He’s been over in Malta with his family for a funeral.

“I’ll have a chat with him and see how he is and we’ll make a decision after that.”

There is better news though on prop forward Ronan Michael, who is set for a return to the field for the first time since March having been sidelined with an ankle problem.

“Ronan Michael is available for selection," the Knights boss confirmed.

"We had a good week of preparation last week and he only narrowly missed out (at Whitehaven).

“He’ll be really keen to get a run-out this week but we’ll see how our preparations go in training."

Should Michael prove his fitness, he faces some tough fellow competition in the middles, in particular given the form of Pauli Pauli, who was named in the Betfred Championship team of the month by the Rugby League World magazine for June last week.

"Congratulations to Pauli Pauli," enthused Ford on the news. "I think he's been exceptional for us for a number of weeks, not just the last three or four.

"I think pre and post his last ban he's been a real key player for us.

"When a player drops down from Super League, it can take a little bit of time to get to grips with a Super League performance and a Championship performance.

"You're also building new relationships and new combinations too.

"We were always confident we'd see this version of Pauli Pauli and let's hope that we continue to see it for the rest of the season because when he's on, he's such a destructive force and I'm glad he's on our team and not the opposition's."