CHRIS ATKIN has admitted to being lost for words when he received news of his call-up to the England Knights squad.

The 25-year-old Hull KR half-back only made his Super League debut a month ago but now has his sights set on playing for his country as he reflects on “a crazy 12 months.”

Atkin, who will be hoping to help Hull KR complete a notable double over Catalans Dragons tomorrow, says the phone call from Knights coach Paul Anderson came as a shock.

“I didn’t really have too many words for him,” Atkin said. “I’ve normally got quite a bit to say, but it left me stumped to be honest.”

Atkin, who represented England in the 2013 Student World Cup, was playing for part-timers Swinton this time last year, not long after putting his teaching career on hold.

“After coming over from Swinton, this is another tick in the box, another thing to keep striving for, to help me develop and just see where I can go.”

The Knights are being reintroduced this year to help bridge the gap between Super League and the full England team in the run-up to the 2021 World Cup.

Atkin, who was man of the match on his Super League debut against Leeds, will have another chance to catch the eye against the winless Dragons in the televised match in Perpignan.

It is only three weeks since the sides met in a rearranged round 12 fixture at Craven Park, but Atkins is not convinced his side’s emphatic 23-4 victory will count for much at Stade Gilbert Brutus.

“It’s going to be a completely different side to the one we faced a few weeks ago.

“They’ve a lot going on there and they’ll be really motivated to win the game, especially at home.

“We know we’ve only won one game so far and we’ve got to win this game if we want to keep to our targets of getting into the top eight and the top four come the end of the season.”

The Catalans, who are the only team yet to pick up a point so far, are still without both half-backs Luke Walsh and Sami Langi because of injury, whereas Rovers are expected to have veteran Danny McGuire back alongside Atkin.

The former Leeds skipper missed the Robins’ defeat at Salford a fortnight ago with a rib injury but will catch the flight to the south of France this morning as long as he comes through the team’s final training run.

“Danny did a bit of light training yesterday and hopefully he’ll come through on Friday,” Atkin said. “I think he’s ready to get back out there now.

“Having Danny back will be a massive boost for us. He’ll help me out a lot. We’d started to build that partnership and it was disappointing to not have him at Salford.”