ILKLEY will be hoping to sign off for their Christmas break with a North Premier League win at Stacks Field on Saturday.

Their opponent are rock-bottom Morley and victory could lift them into the top half of the table.

But Ilkley will have to guard against complacency because they have already lost this season to lowly Sandal and Pocklington.

The postponement of last Saturday’s home game with Lymm due to a frozen pitch gave the Ilkley squad a welcome breather.

“Many of the squad hadn’t had a break since pre-season,” said head coach Nathan Smith, who face a disciplinary panel tonight after receiving two yellow cards in the recent 33-27 win at Birkenhead Park.

“We didn’t train and just let the lads have a rest. A number of them had a little extra time to shake off injuries.”

Six players who missed the Birkenhead Park game are available again, Charles Morgan, Ben Magee and Josh Hall, who were all playing sevens in Dubai, along with Steve Burns, Dan Lawrence and Joe Lowes. who were either injured on unavailable.

One player who remains on the sidelines is prop Josh Cockerham after concussion.

It all makes for an interesting selection meeting as the stand-in players performed well.

“We have to pick a side to defeat Morley and our policy has always been to select the best available players,” said Smith.

“It is good to have choices to make as we have had a lot of injuries hampering selection in recent times.

“This is an important game for us because you do not want to go into a long break on the back of a defeat.

“A win would give everybody a lift in readiness for the new year matches.

“The result at Birkenhead Park halted the poor run we were on and we have the chance to build on it now.”

Ilkley currently have five wins from 12 games while opponents Morley have won just once this season.

When the sides met at Scatcherd Lane earlier this season, Ilkley triumphed 24-15.