STOURBRIDGE Director of Rugby Neil Mitchell believes he must box clever if Stourbridge are to avoid relegation from English National League One this season.

Following their 16th defeat of the season against second placed Ealing, Stourbridge now find themselves locked in a relegation battle along with fellow strugglers Barking and Birmingham and Solihull.

And to make matters more difficult, next up for Stourbridge is a trip to top of the table Jersey.

Mitchell admitted: “I have to be practical with the game at Jersey and instead start targeting the ones I think we can win.

“We’ve got some winnable games coming up at our place, the next of which is Cinderford on February 18. That one is a must-win match for us.

“We’re using the best players that I’ve got available at the moment, but two or three of them are already carrying injuries. At the moment we’re only training once a week, the other time is spent getting the injured players patched up.

“I can’t afford to pick up any more injuries at Jersey.

“We’re 13 points adrift at the moment and that’s a great deal to catch up.

“However, we’ve eight games left after Jersey and that’s 40 points available.”

The Saxons chief added that he was ready to change things around for the run-in.

“I’ve one or two players to bring in, reinforcements you might say, but I can’t name any of them at the moment simply because they haven’t informed their own clubs yet.

“At the moment, it seems as though everything is conspiring against us on the pitch as everything seems to be going the way of the opposition.

“However, I always knew it was going to be a tough battle this season. We just have to remain completely focussed on the games ahead.”

Jersey have won 15 games in a row to go top of National One but were pushed all the way at Stourton before edging a thriller 19-18.

Mike Le Bourgeois bagged all the Islanders points in that October clash but has missed the last three Jersey games with a hamstring injury. The Saxons tries came from Nathan Bressington and Ben Barkley.