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Greenwood previews York

Dewsbury Rams head coach Lee Greenwood will take charge of his first competitive game at the helm of the Rams

Greenwood has put together a fit, hungry young squad and he insists he can’t wait for his team to take the field on Sunday.

On Sunday’s fixture vs York he said: “We were ready last week, but after the game was postponed it just delayed things by a week. Obviously we are undefeated after one week so it’s not a bad start. No we are itching to get going as staff and players now. It is nice to start the season off at home.

“It doesn’t change the thinking too much the delayed start to the season. When it gets to Tuesday you are onto York anyway which is what we would have done if the game at Rochdale would have been on.

“We trained this week preparing for the York game knowing it is going to be a tough challenge to stop them. After their defensive performance against Toronto it is going to be hard to trouble them as well.”

The Rams were defeated 34-0 in the Yorkshire Cup away at the Knights back in January. However Greenwood is hoping for very much a different outcome this weekend.

He commented: “I hope so, we spoke about it before, York were really good then, it wasn’t just about us not going in with our strongest team. They were strong and ready to go and they were at home, take nothing away from them, they put us to the sword. Whichever 17 takes to the field on Sunday we will need to see a massive improvement or we will get nowhere near again.

“They went with a similar side to what they put out against Toronto. So looking back the side that played us was pretty much their team. We are in different scenarios, York have a small settled squad with one or two changes from last year. James Ford is in a stronger position becuase he is further down the track with his side than I am here. We did a lot of recruiting from different places in pre-season and they all needed a chance to shine. The coaching staff’s job after that York game was to narrow it down to a 17 from what we have seen. There will be not a lot of new faces playing but new combinations from what we have previously seen. The team that plays on Sunday may not be the one going forward, we can only go off of what we have seen in pre-season. It will be up to the lads that play to try and stay in the team.

“I am not nieve to think things will be perfect on Sunday and I will have to juggle things around personal wise. I will be honest I might have to do that all season.”

Finally Lee spoke about the knowledge of the Rams fan base and is excited to see a big crowd down at the ground on Sunday.

He said: “They don’t need to be told to keep their feet on the ground. They are quite a knowledgeable bunch from what I have heard and the people I have spoke to. There are no illusions from where we have got players from, and they know that not all the players will work out. A lot of people have predicted us to be fighting in a relegation battle but that is up to us to prove them wrong.

“I think the excitement from a supporter point of view would be this is the start of something I would say. Obviously with me joining now they will see things right from the start and hopefully the fans will see what I do a little bit with some of the changes and decisions I make. So from that point of view I think it is exciting seeing which players can do what we want them to do.”