By Adam Hunter

Bournemouth Lions head to Henley Hawks this weekend with a squad ravaged by injuries and unavailability of some key players. Nonetheless, Director of Rugby Will Croker remains positive, and is looking forward to his re-shaped team springing a few surprises.

“Not many people are giving us a huge amount of hope in this game. And of course having picked up a couple of injuries from last week we’ve had to shuffle the pack,” he said.

Lions have lost club captain and talisman Joe Rees to a knee injury, Sammy Veneroso to a broken hand, Scott Chislett has a hamstring injury, and Freddie Gleadowe - try scorer in each of the team’s opening fixtures - suffered ligament damage when his elbow was dislocated in last weekend’s defeat at home to Worthing. Add in absentees Grant Hancox, Tom Napier and Dan Stewart, and you see the challenge Croker faces against a Henley side that finished fourth last year, one point from promotion.

“Whilst we know it’s going to be a really tough fixture, it’s still a good opportunity for us to go out and learn more about ourselves, more about our game plan, more about the way we want to play, and try and put it into practice,” he says defiantly.

Bournemouth can draw comfort from the return of experienced tight-head prop Luca Firetto and exciting young loose forward Ben Roberts. The back line undergoes a makeover with a new centre partnership of Carlos Snell - taking his place from the bench - and wing Alex Everett-Bolter moving in-field. They also boast a brand new back three of Alex Sutherland at full back, with Chris Jeffes and Ben Meadon on the wings.

This rate of attrition is something Lions expected moving up to such a tough league, particularly as an amateur club unable to contract its players. Croker believes that he has two good players competing for each position, and knows the club will need to use all of its resources in the weeks ahead.

Their plight is not helped by a fixture list that packs three of last season’s top five teams into the Chapel Gate side’s first 4 fixtures. The Director of Rugby is keen for fans to understand how difficult a start his side faces.

“I don’t think it can be underestimated how tough a start the fixture secretaries managed to conjure up for us,” he says, with a touch of good humour, adding that he realises that it is just the luck of the draw. The loss of so many players is just something that the coaches and players must absorb.

And Croker remains upbeat, insisting that his squad will cause Hawks serious problems on Saturday.

“The blessing is that a lot of these boys have played at the level before, and they’re not frightened by it. They’re not put off by it. They’re not daunted by it.”

After going behind early in last weekend’s match against Worthing, Lions found a way to play that saw them dominate for significant periods of the game, impressing the coaches with their grit and application. As the team gels, they expect to put together such passages of play more regularly, and with that the results will turn around.

Croker is quick to praise the positive spirit in the camp, and the resilience of his players.

“We’ve got to stay patient, we’ve got to stay confident, we’ve got to stay true to our beliefs and our game plan,” he maintains.

“We will come good.”