JIM DIXON says his Basingstoke players are fit and ready to launch a new rugby season with victory at Harlow in the Powergen Cup.
'Stoke's failure to win the Hampshire Cup final against Andover - they disappointingly lost 9-5 in March - means they have to contest tomorrow's qualifier in a competition where they have a poor record.
But senior coach and flanker Dixon is confident his team will progress to a preliminary round home tie against either Lewes or London Scottish on September 4.
He said: "Like us, Harlow are a young side who are rebuilding after losing a lot of experienced guys, but we're not too worried about them.
"We've had a good pre-season and we're all keen to get started so, if we do what we've been doing for the last couple of months and we did in the game against Andover last week, we'll be fine.
"When it's been the first team squad out playing in pre-season, we haven't had a point scored against us. We want to keep that intact and that's one of our big goals this season - to have the best defensive record in the league."
Powergen Cup rules allow seven replacements instead of the usual four for league matches.
"It means we can go for broke," said Dixon. "If guys get tired we have more options, and I expect to use everyone.
"I'm happy with my back line. It's got plenty of pace that we've possibly lacked in the past and I'm happy with the pack too, especially the back five. We've clicked."
In the absence of Kelvin Chapman, Matt Evans will captain the side. The hooker will be in a new front row with Simon Lovegrove and Jamie Davenport, a tighthead prop recruited from Overton.
'Stoke had some bad news when another prop, Kiwi Rees Morgan, who was due to join the club this week, suffered a bad shoulder injury playing in New Zealand.
"It's a really big blow," said Dixon. "Everything was in place, the flight and so on, but he's not coming over now because his shoulder needs a reconstructive operation.
"It means a lot of hard work has gone to waste and we have to try and find another prop now."
Basingstoke: Brian Parsons; Ollie Rogers, Vincent Feausi, Dan Rees, Jason Luff; Matt Lucas, Andy Byett; Simon Lovegrove, Matt Evans, Jamie Davenport, Ross Stirling, Andy Wilson, Simon Appleby, Jim Dixon, Selwyn St Bernard.
Replacements: Darren Lillywhite, David Jones, Carl White, Ian White, Christie White, Chris Hampson, David Pack.
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