There are also one or two injury niggles so final selection won't be made until Saturday lunchtime.

Wheover plays the coaches will be asking them to keep up the steady improvement of recent weeks, and to keep a focus on their game for the full 80 minutes.

Last week at Birkenhead the work rate, tackling and support play was there. However,  too many players were put off their stride by the perceived injustice of no action being taken when Jonny Boatman was scythed down by a high tackle - compounded by a yellow for Gareth Foreman shortly afterwards for sticking a hand in a ruck.

As a result Park were able to clinch a couple of tries in the closing stages to deny us a losing bonus point, and earn themselves a try scoring point.

That should be another lesson learnt. We have already discovered that there are no easy games in this league with virtually every game so difficult to call.

AK are no exception. Last week they triumphed at home over a Waterloo side still buoyant from their own 50 point hammering of local rivals Birkenhead Park. That was their second home win of the season, and it took them off the bottom of the table. So far they haven't won away.

Right winger Tony O'Connor scored a hat trick in the 17-14 victory over 'Loo but he is missing from the side which travels to Brinkburn.

The biggest selection headache will be over who replaces Boatman J.  Skipper Boatman D. and Michael Taylor are shoe-ins for the other two back row places with a number of options over who takes over at openside.

One feature of recent games has been the performance of the players who have moved up from the Stags. Ben Lloyd is unavailable, so Alex Barker comes into the sqaud where he joins Ross Wood, Greg Edwards and Michael Hogan who have all impressed.

West from: Stu Waites, Scott Butcher, Greg Edwards, Luke Watson, Gav Robinson, Andrew Cheslin, Colin Cheslin Gareth Foreman, Andrew Foreman, Ross Wood, Liam Bailey, Andrew Dixon, Adam Coates, Michael Hogan, Andrew Davies, Alex Barker, Tom Dixon, Gareth Eddy, Dan Boatman [c], Michael Taylor.

Altrincham Kersal: 15 James Conville, 14 Si Edwards, 13 Pete Kilburn,12 Matt Hulse [c] 11 J P Singleton, 10 Josh Woods, 9 James Singleton , 1Nathan Bailey, 2 John Geddis, 3 Danny Marshall, 4 Mike Marsden, 5 Steve Richardson, 6 Rich Hutchinson, 7 Jon Bishop, 8 Dylan O'Grady. Reps: 16 Gav McDarmaid, 17 Rich Harding
18 Callum Yates.

Referee: Hatam Tall