YORK KNIGHTS head coach Mark Applegarth praised the resilience and character of his severely depleted squad, with just 17 fit players available for selection in their battling 40-16 defeat at St Helens.
“We pride ourselves, as a unit, on the grit that we’ve got and we definitely showed that in abundance,” said the York boss.
“The 40/20 (by Tristan Sailor) was a real momentum shift. We were going set-for-set there and I thought if we got another try and put a bit of scoreboard pressure on Saints with the home crowd getting on their back, we might get a bit of joy.
“We’ve just got to make sure we concentrate for a full 80 and, if we do, we will be a match for anyone.
“We have to make sure the execution is there in attack and defence at those crucial moments as well.”