Batley v York preview: Undefeated Bulldogs expecting to face ‘very motivated’ winless Knights

That is the view of Batley head coach Mark Moxon who has overseen one win and a draw in the Bulldogs’ opening two league outings in 2025.

York meanwhile, led by former Batley player Mark Applegarth, have lost their first three games and sit joint-bottom of the Championship table.

And Moxon believes his side will be up against it at Mount Pleasant this weekend.

He said: “They are a very good side on paper. They took Kieran Buchanan from us and we know how good he is. They have strengthened since with the addition of Mitch Clark and Ben Jones-Bishop as well.

“They are well coached by Mash (Applegarth) who we know a fair bit about at Batley, he’s a good bloke.

“They will be reeling from the fact they’ve lost their first three games so they’ll be coming to put that right this week.

“That means we are going to be facing a very motivated competitive team.”

Batley, who were bravely beaten by Leigh Leopards in the Challenge Cup last weekend, are expected to still be thin on the ground in terms of numbers as Moxon looks to Wakefield Trinity, who have also been hit with a few injury issues, and Warrington Wolves for some help in fielding a competitive team against York.

He said: “Luke Blake was meant to return from his HIA but he fell ill during the warm-up (at Leigh). Joe Burton played ill, he toughed it out for the lads. Luca Atkinson has only had one week of full training since taking a knock on Boxing Day. He was going to be the 18th man last week but he stepped in for Blakey.

“We have had quite a lot going on behind the scenes which people might not appreciate.

“I have had assurances that Brad Martin (on loan from Leigh) will be back and a message from Wakefield making a couple of players available and I’m going to try and twist their arm for a couple more.

“Max Jowitt was helped off the field (at Huddersfield) which probably makes Josh Rourke unavailable. It’s an opportunity for them to play him for a few weeks so that counts him out with us. The ones I have been offered are Jayden Myers and Noah High who we have had previously, but that can change. I am going to ask for a couple more. Josh Griffin played in reserves last week and Ellis Lingard is a talented player who would probably benefit from playing against men. Maybe it’s still early for him but I think he can make the step up.

“Whoever is then the 18th man for them this week on Friday, if they don’t play for Wakefield they could potentially play for us. It’s a bit of a gamble if you put them in your 20-man squad and they play for Wakefield, then we can’t use them. At the minute we might need to take a bit of a punt.”

“Luke Thomas is a name from Warrington, a Welsh international so I know a little bit about him from the Wales setup, he’s looking for a loan and he’s another middle.

“Eliot Peposhi (Bradford) and Sam Marshall (Warrington) are both available, on loan for a minimum two weeks. Peposhi might make the team but they both did a good job for us at Leigh.”