Harry Sharman reckons that the timing of Spalding RFC’s hardest game of the season couldn’t be more unfortunate.
Town travel to Midlands One East leaders Kettering on Saturday (3pm) – with the teams essentially polar opposites.
Having won all five of their games, Kettering are a whopping 22 points ahead of winless Spalding already.
But, having earned their first point of the season with a much improved showing against high-flying Ilkeston last weekend, captain Sharman does feel confidence is on the rise at the Memorial Field.
“We had a lot of experienced heads back against Ilkeston,” said the injured skipper. “At the end we were disappointed to only get a losing bonus point.
“And in truth, I’d have snapped your hand off if you’d offered me that before the match.
“The lads showed fight and a real passion for the cause. We were disappointed after the game – but you could see the confidence coming back.
“With that in mind, it’s a bit unfortunate that we’ve now got our hardest game.
“It’s going to be very difficult for any team to go there and get a result.
“It would have been better for us to have a different fixture to allow us to get some momentum going, but I suppose there are no easy games in this league.
“Anything can happen in rugby, though.
“We just need to go there and get amongst them and see what happens.”
From last Saturday’s squad, Rob Lucas is Spalding’s only fresh absentee. He is set to replaced at scrum-half by Lance Charity.
Meanwhile, Sharman himself revealed that he is unlikely to return from injury until early November.
His broken nose is taking longer than expected to heal properly.
