JAMIE Marshall (pictured) is set for another stint at hooker on Sunday when Workington Town try to recover some lost pride against York City Knights.

Town have few options for the number nine role with Jack Pedley ruled-out with a bad bout of tonsillitis; Phil Hewitt on honeymoon in Australia and Darren King still committed to working on Sundays.

Coach Gary Charlton said: “I know Jamie has played most of his rugby in the backs but he has played hooker for us and I thought against Featherstone he was one of our better players.

“Most of the team were poor in the Challenge Cup but at least Jamie gave an average performance, so we would have no qualms about starting him against York.”

Charlton and fellow joint coach Marin Oglanby are looking for a positive response from their players after a dismal effort at Featherstone which saw them crash 74-0.

“That sort of performance is unacceptable and we had a good chat about it. Derwent through the DVD with them and it made grim watching. They could see where things were going wrong and we have asked them to put it right on Sunday.

“I feel sure we will get a positive response out on the field from them,” said Charlton.

Lee Dutton, who has been suffering from chicken[pox, plans to train tonight and hopes to put himself back in line for a place in the squad.

Kris Coward, who dropped out at South Wales Scorpions with a sternum injury also missed-out against Featherstone. Although he was on back shift on Tuesday, and missed training, he trained later in the week an should be ready to return.

Dean Bragg has a neck injury and won’t come into consideration but John Lebbon, who missed-out at Featherstone, is likely to be back in the squad.

Town have also been able to extend the loan period for Barrow prop forward prop Ruairi McGoff and the 25-year-old former Roose and Ulverston amateur will b ready to face the Knights.

Charlton said: “I like the look of Ruairi, particularly against Swinton when I thought he was one of our best players.

“If he has a fault it’s probably that he tries too hard but he’s clearly a confidence player and I have no doubt that he’s going to be fine and a welcome addition to the ranks.”

Charlton and Oglanby will be studying a DVD of York in action to pick-out their patterns of play but anticipate a tough game with an up-beat response from the Workington players.

Like Featherstone in midweek ahead of the Cup-tie with Town, the Knights also had a mid=week fixture, recoding a 34-12 win over London Skolars to book their place in the quarter finals of the Northern Rail Cup.

Caretaker coach Chris Thorman was happy with a decent job done by his much-changed line-up.

The Knights showed 11 changes to the 17 that had seen off Gateshead in the Challenge Cup third round on Sunday.

It had the hallmarks of a routine game at Huntington Stadium but player-coach Thorman – who sat on the sidelines for the first time this term as several first-choice players were rested – was satisfied with the outcome and said a number of players had done enough to put themselves in the reckoning for a place in the team for Sunday’s Championship One trip to Workington.

He said: “That (prgression) was the main thing. We’ve won the game and that’s what we wanted.

“The performance was a bit scratchy again but that’s maybe expected with the number of changes we’ve made. We’re in the next round and that’s the important thing.”

As for the players who came into the team, he said: “We do have a large squad, and a strong squad, and have to give people opportunities. There were a number of players I was pleased with who will be pressing for starts on Sunday.”

Thorman did say, however, that his team have to reduce the number of penalties conceded, after they had a man sin-binned for the second game in a row and lost out 10-5 on the penalty count.

“No disrespect to the recent opposition, but if we concede that many penalties against stronger teams then we might come up short,” he said.

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