Adamson and Sykes to miss Rams' cup outing

Dewsbury stand-off Paul Sykes attempts to break through the Bradford Bulls defence. Picture: Paul Butterfield

Luke Adamson and Paul Sykes have been added to the mounting injury list as Dewsbury Rams prepare to face York City Knights in the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup tomorrow (8pm).

Sykes had been carrying a groin injury for a couple of weeks and will miss the game against unbeaten York, while Adamson suffered an ankle injury against Bradford last week and is also sidelined.

Dewsbury’s 19-man squad for the tie includes centre Karl Pryce, who hasn’t played this season, and 20-year-old forward Sam Bates, who is yet to feature for the Rams.

York have won all three games in League One this season, while they gained an impressive 20-12 victory over Keighley in the last round of the Challenge Cup to set up the fifth round visit to Dewsbury.

Rams coach Glenn Morrison realises his side face a test if they are to reach the last 16 and wants his side to bounce back from last week’s 52-18 defeat at home to Bradford Bulls.

Morrison said: “Hopefully we can turn it around but Friday night will be a tough game against York. They are undefeated and it’s not going to be any walk over, and we’ll be working hard this week.

“We went into the Bradford game with so many out and then had to patch them up and had players playing out of position in the second half which didn’t help.

“Some of the tries in the second half, once our heads were gone, were not up to our standards so I won’t be going easy on them.”

Former fans favourite Austin Buchanan could be in line for a return to Tetley’s Stadium after moving to York in the close season after an outstanding decade at the Rams.

Rams 19-man squad to face York: Sam Bates, Aaron Brown, Nathan Conroy, Joel Farrell, James Glover, Shane Grady, Dalton Grant, Josh Guzdek, Scott Hale, Tom Hemingway, Paul Jackson, Dale Morton, Andy Kain, Karl Pryce, Dom Speakman, Jack Teanby, Tony Tonks, Kyle Trout, Johnny Walker.