Andrew Henderson backs York Knights to overcome early slump as club prepare for double-header

The Knights are the only side in the competition without a win after losing all four games, most recently going down 50-6 to Wakefield Trinity on home soil.

Henderson has seen Richie Myler leave this week to take up a director of rugby role at Hull FC – as well as Leeds Rhinos loanee Tom Nicholson-Watton – and remains without several injured and suspended players for Sunday's date with Bradford Bulls at the LNER Community Stadium.

"I truly believe that we will overcome this tough period," Henderson told BBC Radio York Sport.

"Every club has periods throughout the season where you're contending with injuries, suspensions and players being out of form or things going on in their lives away from rugby. You've got to manage that the best you can.

"We're not where we want to be at the moment – we understand and accept that – but we're working incredibly hard behind the scenes to turn it around. I have every confidence that this group will."

York overcame a wretched run in the middle of last season to qualify for the play-offs thanks to 10 wins in 11 games.

Henderson admits that belief is an issue for the Knights but refuses to dwell on a disappointing opening month.

"You can say that it's down at the moment," he said. "We're not playing with confidence.

"There's been a lot of disruption but we're not making any excuses about that.

"It doesn't excuse some of the levels of performance we've seen from certain players and the team collectively but this past month is done. We can't look back and change it.

"We've got to look forward and improve the areas of the game we need to in order to get some consistency in our performance to ultimately earn some results."

The Knights' clash with Bradford rounds off a double-header that sees York Valkyrie begin their Women's Super League title defence against Challenge Cup holders St Helens.

Valkyrie director of rugby Lindsay Anfield has challenged her team to mix style with substance after overcoming a mental hurdle by winning a decider for the first time.

"Our benchmark was the Grand Final," she said. "We've got to improve on that this year.

"We're very aware that we're putting a product on the field to entertain people. We've been working really hard on our core skills and understanding of the game to make sure this year we do have a better product.

"Hopefully we can flourish in the knowledge that we can actually do it when it really matters."