STOKE skipper Chris Rowley says motivation won’t be a problem when his side stride out at Berkswell and Balsall in Midlands One West on Saturday.
Stoke will make the trip south as heavy favourites to claim a bonus-point win against a side who have lost 10 of their 11 outings and currently prop up the rest of the division.
Stoke, in contrast, are nestled in fifth place as they continue to banish the memories of their slow start to the campaign.
However, it is next weekend’s home date with second-placed Burton, who are 10 points ahead of Stoke, which is capturing the imagination of Rowley, pictured, and his squad.
Rowley will miss Saturday’s match in order to allow him more time to recover from a medial knee ligament injury.
And he says this encounter is the ideal chance for players to ink their places on to the team sheet when Burton roll into town in nine days’ time.
“We’ve not changed too much in terms of team selection and we’ve told the lads that if they have the shirt and play well, they will keep it,” said the captain.
“We’ve got a few more players returning from injury, so the competition for places is increasing.
“But the players have sampled what a big game is like when we played Longton in the cup the other week, and they’ll want another taste of that atmosphere when we play Burton.
“There is a lot riding on the Burton encounter.
“We need to win that because otherwise the gap might be too big to catch them.”
Rowley insists a return of 13 points from the 15 available before Christmas is the minimum requirement to retain their interest in affairs at the top end of the table.
After this week’s trip to Berkswell and Balsall and the Burton game, Stoke pay a visit to Kenilworth before they put their feet up over the festive period.
Stoke, though, appear to be in decent fettle after running out convincing 52-10 winners at home to Barkers Butts last Saturday.
Stoke were forced to dig deep in the early stages, but a red card for the visitors, coupled with some more incisive attacking play, enabled Rowley’s side to emerge handsome victors.
“It was pretty comfortable in the end, but we were trailing at one point and the red card obviously helped us,” he explained.
“We made hard work of things in the first half, but played well after the break.
“Instead of trying to score from every phase, we played more sensibly and kicked for the corners and built up the pressure, which eventually worked for us.”
And Rowley is expecting a similar challenge from Berkswell and Balsall this weekend.
“It will be the same type of game, I’d imagine,” he added.
“They will have a look at us in the first few minutes to see what we’ve got, but I’d like to think we’ll have too much for them.”
Stoke have been handed a fitness boost with blindside flanker Rob Glenn in line to start his first match since injuring his shoulder against Lichfield in August 2012.
Fly-half Tom Hughes will once again battle through his bumps and bruises to play as Stoke continue to move towards having a fully-fit squad.
Article source: http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/international/o-driscoll-has-twitter-all-a-flutter-1.1451441
Rugby Union: Stoke captain Chris Rowley lays down challenge to players
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