Kingstone Press League 1 Preview: Coventry Bears v London Skolars

Tom Tsang, the Coventry Bears coach, expects a fired up London Skolars to be seeking revenge for the defeat the Bears inflicted on them earlier in the season.

“They’ll also be wanting to finish the season strongly,” he said.

“I think it will be a good game whichever way it goes. Looking at their results they seem to be trending in the same way as us – good close results, good performances by all accounts, but not quite getting the results in terms of the two points.

“Jermaine’s starting to get a bit of traction with the team and that bodes well for next year but they’ll be wanting to finish strongly just like we will.

“It will be a good competitive game, even though it’s being played out at the bottom end of the table.”

Centre Jordan Harper is out with a broken hand but props James Geurtjens and Morgan Evans are likely to return.

For London Skolars this will be their third game in nine days. Coach Jermaine Coleman said: “We had a busy weekend but we managed it well. I’m happy with the performances of the players over the two games.

“Obviously we’re disappointed with the results but it’s a progression from where we were earlier in the year. It certainly bodes well for next year when we get to have a full pre-season with everyone and we keep the same sort of squad together.

“A lot of players who played both games will be playing this weekend. It’s a tough ask and I suppose it’s a super-important game for us.

“We really owe Coventry one for what they did to us down here – they really taught us a lesson. I’m not particularly surprised at how they’re going, Tom Tsang is a good coach.”

Loose forward Will Fairhurst is out with a ruptured Achilles and there is a doubt over hooker Mike Bishay