Boot will be on the other foot for Hunslet at York

Hunslet, who remain sixth in Betfred League One, outside the play-offs on points difference, visit second-placed York City Knights on Sunday.

“We are looking forward to it,” Thornton, a former York boss, said.

“Those are the games you want to play in and it will be a really good test for us.

“I would have liked Sunday’s game to be a bit higher intensity, but it is what it is.”

Hemel are second from bottom and Thornton admitted his team were on a hiding to nothing.

“No disrespect, but these teams come to spoil your game plan,” he said.

“If I had been coaching them that’s what I’d do.

“They did it quite effectively for the first 25 minutes; they were in the game and we couldn’t quite execute what we wanted to execute.

“It took us a while to get going, but we scored some nice tries. We bombed a few as well, but it was job done. We set out to get the two points and improve our points difference and we did both so we have to be happy.”

Gavin Duffy, who scored a hat-trick against Hemel, rolled an ankle and is a doubt for the York game.

But Daley Williams could return after withdrawing from the side on Sunday morning due to illness.