Only best will do

Saturday's trip to the Exiles' Richmond home is of vital importance to 'Stoke, if they are to continue their climb up the London one table and stave off relegation fears.

The narrow defeat by Canterbury halted their winning run of three matches, and Old Colfeians moved above 'Stoke into the safe eighth place after their win over Thanet.

Just one point now separates the two sides, while Sutton and Epsom are a further two adrift.

That is why Dixon was hoping for a morale-boosting Hampshire Cup semi-final win over Winchester on Saturday.

He said: "The priority is winning the semi-final, but if we put in a good all round display, defending strongly and scoring tries, it will help us in our preparations for the trip to Scottish.

"Without question, we will need to put in our best performance of the season to get a win there, and it's one we need to keep our momentum and rise up the table, in front of the other sides near us.

"Scottish have had a couple of rough results in the last couple of weeks, so we need to take advantage of that.

"They beat us 29-13 at Down Grange the last time we met, but we are a far better side than back in October, so I am expecting us to really show them what we are capable of."

'Stoke's winning form is better away than that at Down Grange, a statistic Dixon cannot really explain, but hopes will "continue for another few weeks at least, as we'll win the Scottish and Bishop's Stortford games then!"

However, there will be no room for jokes as 'Stoke approach the game, said Dixon.

"The attitude to the things you do in training have a direct link to performances on Saturdays, and it pleases me when I see the guys treat training and our drills in the right way.

"We will need to produce full concentration for the 80 minutes at Scottish to get a win, but there is no reason why we cannot.

"If we do, it will really give us the confidence to push on against the other better sides in the league."