Trips to Yorkshire have not been kind to Bedford Blues so far this season, but that is a trend Mike Rayer is eager to reverse when they face Leeds Carnegie at Headingley today (3pm).
So far this season the Blues have lost in their Championship outings away to Rotherham Titans and Doncaster Knights, while Leeds also dished out a big 45-28 defeat on their own turf back in October.
Headingley has rarely been a happy hunting ground for Bedford either, but Rayer feels that there is not much that his side need to change and is keen to right the wrongs from the 33-12 defeat at Doncaster earlier this month.
“After our last performance on the road we’re looking for a dramatic change from that performance,” he said.
“Certain aspects of it were pretty good, but we didn’t shower ourselves in glory towards the end of the game. What’s important is that we keep our discipline.
That game we gave away 16 or 17 penalties then last time we played [at home to London Scottish] we gave away three, so we can’t have that yo-yo effect in terms of our discipline.
“We’ve got to be squeaky clean, trusting our defence and make sure we don’t make too many unforced errors, which we have been prone to. It sounds simplistic, but I don’t think it’s too much more than that really. We’re aware of Leeds’ strengths and they showed us that when they came here and gave us a hiding back in October.
“We know what they are capable of on their day and we’ve got to make sure we’re up for it and put in a performance, because last time we played away from home wasn’t good enough.”
Both sides were without a game last week due to being eliminated from the British and Irish Cup, which has given the players a rare chance to switch off from rugby and recharge their batteries.
It has also given some of the Blues’ walking wounded a chance to recover, although one player who definitely won’t be involved is Dan Seal as he remains suspended.
The Blues have received the judgement on his ban and will go through it fully before deciding whether or not to appeal against it. It is also unlikely that new signings Darren Fox and Ben Cooper will feature in this game.
Leeds are currently sixth in the standings and like Bedford are certain to be amongst the sides in the play-offs come March.
Rayer (pictured left) said: “We’re in similar positions; both of us are secure in the top eight and waiting to find out who we are going to play in our group. I guess we are still feeling each other out. They are no different in terms of their planning to where we are, in that we’re working towards some stuff ready for the play-offs.
“There are four games left and we are looking at certain combinations in selection, and hopefully giving enough players opportunities to stick their hands up because come Moseley and Nottingham we’ll be looking to get continuity in our selection.”
Starting line-up:
15. James Pritchard (c)
14. Mark Kohler
13. Brendan Burke
12. Ian Vass
11. Josh Bassett
10. Jake Sharp
9. Stefan Liebenberg
1.Sam Walsh
2. Neil Cochrane
3. Phil Boulton
4. Mike Howard
5. Sean Tomes
6. Gregor Gillanders
7. Alex Rae
8. Paul Tupai
Replacements: 16. Chris Locke, 17. Nico Steenkamp, 18. Jonathon Fisher, 19. Don Barrell, 20. Darryl Veenendaal, 21. Jamie Lennard, 22. Ollie Dodge
Read a report on today's game here on our Bedford Blues page later this evening
