BOSS James Ford admitted his York City Knights side were "sloppy" at times against Swinton Lions - but hailed yet another victory which lifted the League One champions up to third in the Betfred Championship.

The Knights won 30-20 at Bootham Crescent to notch a sixth success in eight league outings and leapfrog Sheffield Eagles on points-difference. They sit only two points behind second-placed Toulouse Olympique with a game in hand.

Ford reckoned his side never looked like losing but bemoaned a lack of "attention to detail" which, coupled with two late Swinton tries, meant the result was not as straightforward as it might have been.

The victory was marred by injuries to half-backs Ben Cockayne, who departed late on after a couple of bangs to a knee, and Connor Robinson, who played out the game despite a hamstring issue in the second half.

Said Ford: “I’m pleased to get the win and another two points, which is obviously the aim of the game.

“Physically we completed dominated. When we were direct we made really good metres and, defensively, we stopped them getting momentum or field position.

“But our mentality with the ball was not where it needed to be.

“We played too chancy and that stopped us from getting into a rhythm, which was disappointing, but we will work on that and get better.

“I didn’t think we were going to lose the game - we always had enough in us to win it.

“But we were sloppy in terms of our mentality and our attention to detail. It was not where it needed to be.”

The Knights looked the stronger early on but Ford argued: “The plan was not to start how we did – two completions out of seven sets and a couple of sloppy penalties.

“How we started the game – the mentality was horrendous. We had spoken about getting in on the next play or the next set or even at the end of a five-minute block, but on too many occasions we threw a couple of chancy passes.

“If they stick, you put 40 or 50 points on a side. If they don’t, the pressure builds on you, like it did here. So that was disappointing but at the same time I was pleased we showed some leadership out there and some resilience to manage a scratchy performance and come away with the points.”

The Knights go to Widnes Vikings next Saturday in the fifth round of the Challenge Cup, with Cockayne and Robinson now doubtful.

Ford said: “We will have to see how they react to treatment. We’ll have to play it by ear.”

The Lions, meanwhile, have now lost eight of their nine league outings, but Ford said: “I’m full of admiration for Swinton.

"They’ve done it tough a little bit this week – they’ve lost a couple of players through injury and they had one bloke (Wigan dual-reg second-row Liam Paisley) pulled out on game-day as well – but they’ve had a real dig.

“They’ve turned up and they fought pretty hard to stay in the game.

“I said before the game I like a lot of things Swinton do, certainly with the ball. When they get some bodies back they’ll be a decent side."

The Lions played some enterprising stuff at times, pulling defenders around, and Ford reasoned: “Your full-back and your middles have to work hard to get your numbers right.

"Instead of going six-four, you might have to flip one over late and go seven-three, and it’s a challenge to do that consistently over 80 minutes.”

The result means this Knights side have already equalled a club best of six wins in a season at Championship level - set in the 2013 relegation campaign.

Ford said this stat did "not especially" bring additional satisfaction.

"We take it a game at a time and win as many as we can," he reasoned. “We try to get better and accumulate good days here and away from the club and that will manifest itself in promising form.”