Chopping and changing certainly doesn't help in finding a winning side, and neturals will no doubt favour an away victory, but there is plenty of strength and skill in the side which will face a resurgent Boro.
Gareth Kerr is the latest injury victim - heading off to hospital last night to have his shoulder put back in after a training injury. He joins Peter Hodgson [dead leg], Dan Boatman [sprained ankle],Steve Smart [shoulder], Darren Thomas [ankle], Carl Miller [shoulder] and Greg Edwards [knee ligaments] on the treatment table.
Fortunately, we do have 65 players signed on to play senior rugby so in comes Phil Wallis at fly half and Carlo Robinson for his first start of the season in the front row. It allows Adam Howard to move to the back row where his power and pace round the park may be best suited.
Henry Tones also returns in the back row, bringing with him his unique brand of foraging, with Dave Garside the unlucky one to drop to the bench despite an excellent show at Sheffield.
Director of Rugby Kevan Oliphant delayed announcing the sides so he could talk to several players. He said:"There are a couple of lads who I wanted to speak to and explain why we were making the selection decisions. It is all about producing balanced sides right across our senior teams an no reflection on how they performed last week."
Boro arrive in third place having narrowly lost last week to leaders Stockport. Their line-up is not that much changed from the one which went down 18-0 to West in the final game of last season and they'll be eager for revenge.
It includes former West colt Rob Bellerby, who is living up to the potential he showed with West, and they also have Peter Wright who has been consistently one of the most dangerous scrum halves in the Northern leagues.
West: Tom Wilson, Colin Cheslin, Jamie Connolly, Paul Moss, Andrew Cheslin, Phil Wallis, Harry Readhead, Anth Carr [capt], Tim Sawyer, Carl Robinson, Andrew Davies, Tom Dixon, Adam Howard, Henry Tones, Jon Boatman. Reps: Gavin Robinson, Jon Norris, Dave Garside.
Middlesbrough: 15 Jack Bircham 14 Callum Campbell 13 Rob Bellerby 12 James Muncer 11 Paul Norris 10 Simon O’Farrell 9 Peter Wright 1 Isa Warsama 2 Ben Horton 3 Chris Horton 4 Iain Bradford 5 Lee Theakston 6 Martin Dixon 7 Carl Kirwan 8 Martin Howe 16 Tom Symon 17 Matt Wright 18 Gordon Bland