BOSS James Ford says all thoughts at York City Knights are now fully focused on 2019 and the club's assault on the Betfred Championship.

The Knights celebrated their stellar 2018 season - which brought the League One title and a host of personal and club accolades - on Saturday night with their Gala Awards Dinner at York Racecourse.

But just 72 hours later, Ford and the bulk of his players were together again as they kicked off their pre-season preparations last night with their opening training session at Haxby Road.

And the head coach insisted they were now looking forward to the challenges ahead rather than back over great times.

"It's about this coming year now," said Ford. "It's about being good in the Championship.

"Last season has gone. It's about this year. It's about getting our pre-season right.

"The players need to get started, work hard and and hit standards. Same with the coaches. We need to raise our game as well.

"We are all up for the challenge."

A proportion of the Knights' 2019 squad have little or no Championship experience. But Ford had little qualms about that, insisting their domination of League One, plus performances in the Challenge Cup in recent times against higher-ranked opponents, stood them in good stead - bolstered, too, by a number of notable new signings.

He also reckoned - like in 2018 - that being written off as probable also-rans would give them extra incentive to double their efforts.

"They did really well last year, and they also did all right against Swinton, Rochdale and Catalans in cup matches," said League One Coach of the Year Ford, when asked if the players were equipped for the second tier.

"We'll have another year working on their game and we'll improve them.

"It's a challenge for them but the fact people are almost writing them off - that would certainly spur me on.

"The most important factors are me and the players and we believe in what we can do. It's a case of showing everyone else."