Important we get back to winning ways against a York team no doubt smarting after their defeat at Keighley.

We as fans can play our part by getting behind the team from the start and the players will respond.

Assuming Kesik and hopefully Castle will be fit.

COYD

agreed, important game, some tough games to follow, a win is the important thing, but a performance would be nice. Kesik should be ok by all accounts, which is a plus, not same team without him, and i still think it should be butterfield at full back, waterman back to centre , but doubt it Will happen.

Not sure about Butts at full back.

Waterman is wasted at full back in my opinion, sure he does a decent job, but we lose out in attack. Butterfield at the start of last season did well i thought, made some good carries, not the fastest, but positionaly i thought looked good. Injuries didn't do him any favours, and with the lack of back up in that position, i would give him another shot. Just an opinion of course, i know stand offish would like to see him elsewhere, what really matters is what TM thinks, none of us Will influence him im sure.

Hate to be the one to say it but i just don't think butts is good enough anymore. His tackling technique is horrible and he very clearly lacks fitness. Hoping kesik and castle are back! They were missed on sunday they make such an impact

There's a big difference between being fit and match fit. He hasn't had much chance to be match fit to be fair.

Not just saying it on match fitness though. He let himself go when he wasn't playing rather than stay fit and earn his place on the team.

Historically, all teams that have been promoted from the lower league to this league have found life tough. We all knew it was going to be a difficult season.

The signing of Brick Waller and Dennis Tuffour (than most) has improved the team.

I think we're missing Lucas Walshaw. He was a good player for us last season, and we've not been as dynamic since the Waterman/Hodson combo was broken up.

Defensively we're being put under more pressure from potentially better players than last season, and our cutting edge in attack hasn't quite been smart enough to unlock the better defenses.

The team spirit was a huge factor in last season's performance. When you're winning, confidence builds; when you're losing the self-belief can drop. I've got belief in Tony Miller to bring everyone together and with Paul Cooke on the field, we have guy to guide us around the park.

The upcoming fixtures look quite daunting and a win against York looks vital from several points of view. Getting bonus points in defeat is critical too. When we look at the table at the end of the season, the two that go down will probably be the teams who failed in this department.

On that point, it is important that when we win, we starve the opponents, especially our main rivals, of a bonus point - starting on Sunday!

Team selections are a very subjective thing and the Dual Reg system adds to the complications. Do you stick with the Donny registered players for harmony and consistency, or do you use an import with potentially a bit more class?

Tony Miller seems clear that he prefers Lee at full-back to Mick Butterfield. If we look at most Super League teams their most influential player is quite often the full-back. From a Dons' perspective on this, do you remember how Shad Royston moved from Centre to Full-Back? He was even more lethal there than at Centre.

I think TM prefers Lee there because he has more pace than Mick. I hope Mick gets a decent run in the side because he was one of our better players before being struck by injury. I suspect it could be as a fit-in anywhere player coming from off the bench.

My suggestions:

In attack we need more dummy runners when we're near to the opponent's try line. You can cause confusion by effort rather than skill ... but it does eat away at the petrol in the tank, I suppose. We need to build pressure better and make the kicks more telling, even if it means getting a repeat set of 6, and building pressure, rather than scoring on every set.

In defense we need to stop letting the ball bounce from kick-offs, boss the ruck a little more to slow the play the balls down, and not give silly penalties away for back-chatting and the like.

I will look forward to all of these things being implemented on Sunday, getting us three points, and denying York a bonus point!

COYD

Nice gesture by the York players to pay for buses for travelling fans, hopefully boost the gate a bit.

Will be coming over Sunday (by car), do we still need to get tickets
from the ticket office before going through the turnstiles?

If so, what time does the ticket office open?

Thanks

Hope to see a few knights fans on Sunday & yes you need to get a ticket from the ticket office.

Does anyone know how Liam Cunningham is coming on with his injury.
i think we miss his running on the edge, hope he's not far off returning.
COYD

don't forget everyone fetch a new supporter this week.
cheap at half the price!

I doubt that the crowd will be any more than around 750ish.

Big Match Preview

York City Knights are this weekend's visitors to the Keepmoat Stadium which has been billed as a must win game for the Dons. This Kingstone Press Championship round 8 game has a 3:00pm kick-off on Sunday.

Dons' head coach Tony Miller looks set to welcome back club skipper Kyle Kesik whilst Danny Cowling and Kyle Trout (Wakefield dual registration players) are both in contention for a place in Miller's 18 man squad. Liam Kay of Wakefield is also available for selection after playing at Swinton last week.

Miller has added another loan player to his injury hit squad with Ben Blackmore of Huddersfield Giants who joins on an initial month long deal. 20 year-old Blackmore is a physically imposing winger who stands at 6' 2" and weighs in at 100kg. The former Castleford Tigers flyer has Super League experience and joins team mate Josh Johnson at the Dons.

On the injury front, Lee Waterman looks set to miss out against his former club with a groin strain and Mark Castle's chances of a comeback is rated at 50/50. Carl Hughes aggravated a pectoral injury at Swinton and will be out for approximately six weeks. Mick Butterfield will slot into his usual role as the Dons full back.

Matt Carbutt could return to action in a month's time after tearing a knee ligament but Liam Cunningham's season looks to be over after a scan revealed significant damage to his shoulder injury. 23 year-old Cunningham now needs surgery to correct the injury he sustained in the club's opening league game of the season against Dewsbury.

Miller said: "We've got a busy Easter period coming up and I've tried to bulk up the squad in readiness for our forthcoming fixtures against Sheffield and Halifax which will both be very tough games.

"Some players will be rested this weekend and I will do my best to keep the squad fit and healthy as we look ahead to those two games in just four days."

The Dons fell to a 14-6 defeat against Swinton last time out and Miller is determined to get his team back to winning ways. He said: "I thought we defended really well last week but we need to be more clinical in attack and take our chances when presented to us.

"The boys have shown plenty of effort and enthusiasm in the last couple of games but we just need to play that bit smarter and get back on track with a good win on Sunday.

"York had an off day last weekend against Keighley but we won't underestimate them as they're a good side who have some quality players throughout their squad."

York's head coach Gary Thornton has doubts over James Ford and Simon Brown, while Adam Sullivan (knee) faces two weeks on the side-lines.

Thornton is resolute to bounce back from last week's 34-0 defeat at Keighley Cougars and said: "We've reviewed it to death and we've put it to bed now. I'm hoping it was just a blip and we can recover from it.

"We definitely require some kind of reaction, because I'm really disappointed with how things panned out.

"The Keepmoat Stadium is a big pitch, so we'll try to get it wide and attack on the fringes.

"It's a different challenge to playing at home or at Keighley - it's a nice open pitch, so it'll be good to get out there and try to play some good rugby."

Austin Bell looks set to return to the Knights' squad after a recent bout of illness and Nathan Freer has re-signed to the club after playing rugby union for Bishop Burton College which was a part of his student scholarship.

Former Dons prop forward Fran Welsh is currently at York on trial and played for their under 20's on Thursday night against a Featherstone side who won the game 52-26.

It promises to be a great afternoon of top quality rugby league and don't forget that season pass holders can bring a friend for just £5.

We're also launching our new match day magazine at the game (#COYD) which has an extra eight pages of content for the same price (£2). Don't miss this one whatever you do - come on you Dons!

Match Day Sponsors:

Main match sponsor: Corsan (Northern) Ltd, Match ball sponsor: Full Effex Security

The club would like to thank our sponsors for their kind support.

Previous Five Meetings:

19th February 2012: York City Knights win 29-18 at Keepmoat Stadium
4th July 2010: York City Knights win 32-16 at Huntington Stadium
28th March 2010: Doncaster RLFC win 40-24 at Keepmoat Stadium
15th August 2008: Doncaster RLFC win 34-32 at Keepmoat Stadium
5th May 2008: Doncaster RLFC win 25-14 at Huntington Stadium

Match Day Admission:

Polite notice: please purchase your match day ticket from the stadium's ticket office before entering the turnstiles.

Adults £15, concessions £12, juniors (5-16) £3 and under 5's go free. Call the ticket office on 01302 762576 if you require more information.

Referee:

M Thomason

Do you think the game will be on?.

No info as yet, but doesn't look promising

Shame about Liam Cunningham missing the season.

Yes he's not had much luck has he

Pitch inspection 10 30 tomorrow morning

its thawing and melting snow now, but just depends on what happens overnight & tomorrows temperatures.
we'll just have to keep our fingers crossed, hope it goes ahead.

The temperature is zero and where gritters haven't been the snow is not melting much.
The temperature tomorrow is forecast the same, with -1C/-2C overnight.
So unless there is human intervention, I would say the game won't go ahead.
Which is a bummer.

According to the BBC weather forecast we had the last of the snow . Temp -1.

If the game gets the green light Bet365 ask us to give up 10 points on the handicap betting.

Skybet make us 8-point favourites (10/11) and go just 4/11 the Dons in the match betting.

There 's only one winner tomorrow......the weather