BASINGSTOKE RFC begin their bid to establish home rule by making sure Old Colfeians are the first in a trio of opponents to be put to the sword at Down Grange.

Over the next three weeks, 'Stoke have consecutive Saturday matches on home turf - against Old Colfs tomorrow, Bishop's Stortford and London Scottish.

Senior coach and first team flanker Jim Dixon said: "They are games we should be looking to win and get maximum points from. The guys know that and want to make the Grange a place teams won't relish coming to.

"Old Colfs are old national three rivals, so we know what type of game it will be and what level of performance is needed. Like us, they'll be keen to go back up and it'll be interesting to see whether they've done much rebuilding over the summer."

'Stoke won the corresponding fixture last season 42-21, and Dixon is hoping for more of the same.

There is an optimism and healthy confidence in the 'Stoke camp about this season in London division one.

Last Saturday's narrow 17-8 reverse at title favourites Richmond, in their league opener, encouraged the team and travelling supporters a great deal.

Dixon was proud of his side's commitment and never-give-up attitude, but, having watched the video of the game this week, he has identified areas to improve.

The Kiwi said: "We cannot use penalties to get out of situations. We gave away too many penalties when we were in trouble as an easy way out. That's not something we should do.

"Also, we didn't make the most of our breaks into their 22, be it through a rushed pass or not enough bodies in support. We saw what we could do when we got it right. Our try ripped them to shreds.

"Maybe it was early season jitters that led to our errors, but we did lose the game. Even if there are positives, that should be something we aren't happy about."

Another area where 'Stoke are seeking to improve is in the lineout. Captain and second row Kelvin Chapman has only just returned to the line-up after being out injured.

Dixon said: "Richmond was the first time Kelvin has been back playing, so there's a bit of tuning to be done. I think we were rushing our lineouts a bit, but perhaps we shouldn't have given Kelvin the calls job and let him concentrate on just playing.

"Having said that, he played superbly given his time out and got in a lot of tackles."

Dixon welcomes back prop Jamie Davenport, who replaces Steve Hobden at tighthead.

Darren Lillywhite (pictured) is the one change in the backs, coming in for Andy Byett at scrum-half. Ross Stirling and Dan Rees return to feature as replacements. Kick-off at Down Grange is 3pm.

'Stoke's squad for tomorrow: Brian Parsons; Carl White, Jan Van Jaarsveld, Vincent Feausi, Jason Luff; Matt Lucas, Darren Lillywhite; Phil Perkins, Matt Evans, Jamie Davenport; Andy Wilson, Kelvin Chapman; Simon Appleby, Jim Dixon, Selwyn St Bernard. Replacements: Simon Lovegrove, Ross Stirling, Dan Rees.