FINDING the right balance between attack and defence is what York City Knights head coach James Ford is searching for as his side prepare to face Halifax tomorrow.

York resume their Betfred Championship campaign with a trip to the Shay stadium after earning their first win of 2020 last weekend in the Coral Challenge Cup at London Broncos.

After suffering defeats at Toulouse and Leigh in their first two league games, the Knights will be aiming to kick-start their league campaign with two points.

For Ford, producing a complete performance in both offensive and defence is the aim.

York have scored just 10 points in their two league games thus far, but showed their attacking capabilities in the 24-22 win at London.

And, as impressive as the win in the capital was, Ford felt that his side were "a little bit off" at the back.

“I was really pleased with a number of the parts of our performance," said Ford of the London game.

“It was almost the opposite to Leigh.

“I thought we were good in attack and a little bit off defensively.

“But we had done an awful lot of work on our attacking game and not as much on our ‘D’ and it probably showed. We probably need to get the balance right somewhere (between the two).

“Although we’ve taken a big step forward, we know that we’re far from the finished article and far from the best version of ourselves.

“We’ll be striving to be better and I’m sure that we’ll see a better side evolve throughout the season."

Halifax finished eighth in the Championship last season having finished in the division's top four during the previous two campaigns.

During the off-season, they've added Super League players Jodie Broughton, Keegan Hirst and Scott Grix to their squad.

“Historically they’re a top four club. They’ve got some really good players.

“In their outside backs, James Saltonstall will cause us some problems coming out of yardage as will (Shaun) Robinson.

“They’ve got clever halves and a clever full-back.

“And they’re enormous in the middle with Keegan Hirst, Kev(in) Larroyer and Dan Fleming.

“They’re really going to test us physically so we’ll need to be right up there in terms of our contact and our kicking game. We’ll have to be patient also."

Halifax will be fully aware of York's half-back Ben Johnston who left the Blue and White during the close season after six seasons at the club.

Johnston impressed against London and it was his half-break that led to Jimmy Keinhorst's winning try late on.

“I was really pleased for Jonno," said Ford. “He’s working really hard at his game and working hard to build combinations and his understanding of those.

“It’s difficult when you come into a new side with new systems and where expectations are a little bit different.

“I’m pleased that he’s maintained his self-belief and maintained his confidence.

"That’s what he’s here for, to run the ball and he put us in a great position to win the game.

Asked whether he'd spoken to Johnston about Halifax's likely set-up and plays, Ford replied: “No, Ben’s got enough to focus on on his role. The coaching staff have had a look at Halifax in their last couple of games.

“They’ve got some strength in them that’s for sure.

“We’ll need to be good and we’ll need to be a lot better defensively than we were against London.

“We’re expecting the conditions to be a challenge also. We’re looking forward to it."