Diss Rugby Club coach Alex Kelsall says side ready to prove they deserve to be at Level 7 ahead of key Cantabrigian game
Head coach Alex Kelsall says his ‘exceptional’ Diss squad are ready to put ‘their bodies and minds on the line’ for the remaining seven games to prove they deserve to remain in Counties 1 Eastern Counties.
The Blues’ status as a Level 7 club is in very real jeopardy following a 50-20 home defeat in their bottom two clash with local rivals Bury St Edmunds II on Saturday (report: page 31).
What was a fourth straight defeat left the Mackenders outfit now five points away from Bury in the first guaranteed save position, outside the bottom two, while the gap to Cantabrigian above them is four points, having all played 15 matches.
And tomorrow sees them travel into Cambridgeshire for a crucial encounter with Kelsall confident his charges will not wilt from the challenge of what looks a ‘must-win’ encounter.
Having returned to the club he used to play in the youth ranks for in the summer, he said: “I’ve believed 100 per cent in these players from the first moment I took over.
“The boys are exceptional. It’s an exceptional group of players and it’s just about ensuring that the performances that I see on the training paddock get taken onto the game.
“Losing becomes a habit, unfortunately, same as winning does. But every single one of the players is fully motivated to ensure that that habit stops this weekend.”
He said their results and performances over the first half of the season, including a 34-21 win over at Bury St Edmunds in late September, shows what they are capable of.
“We’ve got seven games left this season and no team in this league scares me,” he said.
“We have a set of results in the first half of the season which demonstrates that we can be very, very dominant in this league.
“We can get results against any team in the league, it’s just about making sure that things come together to ensure that that actually happens.
“We are a very, very competitive side and we deserve to be in this league.
“And as I say, no team should think we’re the whipping boys because we will come out fighting and we’ll put 100 per cent of our bodies and our minds on the line to ensure that we get the victory that’s necessary.”
Diss were missing captain Nick Garnham (suspended) at flanker and George West (unavailable) at scrum-half on Saturday, but Kelsall was quick to say “that should never be the reason for a victory or a loss”.
He described the performance as “a very, very difficult day at the office” and “probably one of the most frustrating things that’s happened this season”.
The head coach has been without talented young centre Toby Drake since the opening game of the season due to a recurring broken ankle but let him get 30 minutes for the Saracens (IIs) on Saturday, with Kelsall not ruling out a first XV return at Cantabrigian.
“If all goes well for Toby, he’s going to be playing very, very soon,” he said.
Saturday’s hosts Cantabs are a team Diss beat 50-7 at Mackenders on October 26 and are a side who go into tomorrow’s fixture off the back of a 24-20 away win at Saffron Walden.