YORK City Knights are unlikely to miss out on a bumper home gate against Leigh Centurions next season after all – and they could face arch-rivals Hunslet in their first home league game.

The 20 clubs in the Championships have finally been sent draft fixtures for 2010 and The Press understands that Leigh are one of the Knights’ opponents in the Northern Rail Cup.

And in one set of draft fixtures for York’s Championship One campaign, Hunslet – now bossed by ex-Knights player-coach Paul March and featuring ten players from last season’s York squad – will provide the opposition for the first game at Huntington Stadium.

The final fixture list is due to be confirmed a week on Monday, and the provisional schedule is still open to change.

But, as it stands, the Knights’ opponents in the Northern Rail Cup will be Leigh and London Skolars at home, and Rochdale and Sheffield away.

That competition, which as usual precedes the league campaign and will kick off at the end of January, is set to be in the same format as last year, with the teams split into two pools of ten.

Each club plays two home games and two away games, against two clubs from the Championship and two from Championship One. The top four in each pool go into the quarter-finals.

Former Super League outfit Leigh were relegated to Championship One last season but were reinstated in the Championship after Gateshead folded, beginning life again as a new club in the bottom tier.

The Press understands Championship One clubs have been sent two sets of draft fixtures, one for a ten-team division and one for an 11-team division.

The Rugby Football League are still deciding whether to accept a new team from south Wales into Championship One, maintaining a league presence in that region in the wake of Celtic Crusaders’ expected move to north Wales.

The new club will be based in Celtic’s former Bridgend home.

In one set of draft fixtures, the Knights begin their league campaign away to Swinton and follow with a home match against Hunslet.

The Knights are also due to host Hunslet in pre-season – one of four friendlies for the Knights – on Sunday, January 10.

Meanwhile, the friendly against Castleford on Sunday, January 17 will now be at Huntington Stadium.