Stratford 38
Bromsgrove 15
Midlands Division Two (West)

HEAD coach Ross Baxter admitted he knew his side had their work cut out after four of their key players picked up injuries on the eve of Saturday's defeat to Stratford-Upon-Avon.

The Boars suffered their first defeat of 2008, despite tries from Richard Stockholm and captain Richard Arnold. Brett Toole also added a penalty and a conversion.

However, the Finstall Park side were dealt a huge blow on the eve of the clash with key back line stars Dan Quinn, Lee Wainwright, Duncan Roke and Ben Copson all forced to withdraw.

Baxter conceded this had a notable affect on his side's performance.

But after seeing them slip behind in the first half, he praised their spirited fightback.

"We didn't have the best run into the game," he said.

"We lost four of our backs through injury.

"While our forwards were dominant, we were disjointed in the back line.

"They caught on to this and they knew that if they spun it out wide they might have some joy.

"The most important thing was that in the last 20 minutes we didn't let our heads drop.

"We came back and played some decent stuff.

"But we knew our weakness before we went into the game."

After slipping back into the relegation zone, Saturday's home game with bottom-of-the-table Barkers Butts is even more crucial for Bromsgrove, and Baxter is optimistic that his injured stars will have healed in time.

"They are all big players for us. We hope to have at least three of the four back," he added.

"We need to focus on our home games and drive home some points there.

"We have dropped six points from the bottom two this season so Saturday is really important."