GAVIN Russ says his Supermarine players will have an extra incentive to put in a good performance against Corsham tomorrow as the club hosts its annual President’s Day.

The Marine head coach has admitted defeat in the battle to avoid relegation from Southern Counties South having managed only one win from 15 matches, while his side have failed to score a single point in any of their last three games.

Performances have steadily improved, though, and Russ is expecting his side to play with freedom on a day when all three of the club’s teams will be playing at home.

“This day is always a big thing for us, and it’s a day when we want to put in a good performance because we hope there will be a lot of people there on a special day for the rugby club,” he said.

“We have been playing with a bit more freedom recently and I expect that to continue, and there is no reason at all why we can’t pick up a result.

“We went down to Corsham earlier in the season with a side lacking a few players and we felt we were unlucky to lose, and this is a game we think we can take something from.”

Elsewhere in the division, Wootton Bassett skipper Dave Martin is focused on overtaking in Weymouth when the two teams meat tomorrow. The south coast side are only a point above Bassett, who go into the game on the back of two straight wins.

“Back-to-back wins have been really encouraging for everyone in the senior squad,” he said. “The fixtures have panned out that it was three teams at our end of the table but we’re not taking that for granted,” he said.

“We thought we had a strong showing against Sherborne and Trowbridge away, they were both difficult games but we made a good show of it although performances aren’t going to earn you league points.

“We were fortunate to have those two fixtures back to back and now we’ve got Weymouth in our sights in the league table and they’ve got to come to us.

“Hopefully we can capitalise on them having a long trip and catch them napping. It’s our opportunity to go for the win.”