Gateshead Thunder boss Dave Woods is confident his team will respond to defeat at Oldham last weekend when they face York City Knights on Sunday.

The loss ended a run of nine games unbeaten but Woods is adamant the players will benefit from losing the pressure of maintaining that record.

"You're never going to go through a season undefeated," he told BBC Sport.

"We had a real good run, I didn't expect us to do it. We don't need to worry and let's start over again."

York arrive at the International Stadium having lost all three of their meetings with Gateshead in the league and Northern Rail Cup, and Woods is keen to freshen up his side ahead of the encounter.

"We're going to make a few changes, make a few positional changes, put a couple of players back to the bench," he said.

"But that's the beauty of having a big squad as well and a squad that's all training well."

Gateshead lie second in National League Two with 37 points from 14 games, two points behind Barrow Raiders who have a game in hand.