Newport entertain second-placed Burton tomorrow knowing their Midlands 2 West promotion hopes rest on them recording a victory.
The Fishes go into the crunch clash four points behind the Staffordshire outfit in the race for a play-off place.
And club spokesman Chris Bristow is quick to admit that they will have too much ground to make up if they are beaten at Forton Road.
“Kenilworth (league leaders) have 24 points - effectively 25 as their points difference is far superior to everyone else,” he said.
“Burton have 24 points and we have 20. Having only just been beaten at Burton earlier in the season when, if we had kicked a last minute penalty we would have won, we are capable of a win this week.
“However if we don’t, I think overhauling a gap of six points with seven games to go will be a very difficult task.
“Burton play a very forward orientated game with a lot of driving mauls, so the match will be won or lost up front. We defended well against them last time and will need to do the same this week.”
On the team front, Newport have finally been successful in their long battle to get Fijian Tomasi Tanumi registered to play and he makes his league debut at outside half.
Marc Millward is out through work commitments, so Steffen Brotherton comes in on the wing. Phil Rogers keeps his place at tight head prop after a good game last week.
Meanwhile, Bridgnorth entertain Solihull, with coach Bryan Smallman insisting they are coming into the sort of form that could see them spring an upset.
The All Blacks remain third-from-bottom of the table, but Smallman is determined to see them overhaul Barkers Butts and eliminate the fear of relegation, because it is still not clear whether two or three teams will go down.
“We’re playing quite well,” he said. “We’re very upbeat about tomorrow’s game and we’re really looking forward to it.
“The squad has settled down a bit now and there’s more continuity. The results have started to prove that and we’re full of confidence.
“We want to make sure we’re out of the bottom three and then we’ll know we’re safe. Our goal is to get above Barkers Butts - it’s going to be tough but I think we’re capable of doing it.”
Flanker Mark Sanderson is not available, but his absence coincides with the return of Liam Holland after three weeks out due to having sustained concussion.
By Chris Hudson
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