THE Gloucestershire Warriors face their biggest test of the season when the Sheffield Hallam Eagles make their first journey to Gloucestershire in the Conference League South.

The Eagles boast a proud record of only having lost only twice in nearly 40 regular season matches in the league. One of those was last weekend at Valley Cougars and this makes the Warriors’ task even harder against a side that will certainly be smarting from that loss.

“Although we got the win against Nottingham, I was disappointed in our overall performance”, said Warriors coach Richard Jones.

“Individual efforts pulled us through and we cannot afford to do this against a strong Sheffield side.”

The Warriors suffered more injury misfortune last week, losing Dele Ayodele, Dale Cooper and Billy Ryan. Liam Rice-Wilson is a doubt with an ankle problem though Hanley Dawson could return following a shoulder injury.

This has meant that the side has yet to settle but when it does, it is capable of putting together a run of wins to challenge at the top of the table.

The Warriors have shown plenty of teamwork and spirit in the last two weeks in fighting back from interval deficits but they may face a harder job should they allow the Eagles to fly away from them on the scoreboard.

Jones though has noted last week’s shock scores and is preparing for a tough encounter.

He added: “It was interesting looking at the results last week. The competition seems very open and we will be working hard in training as usual to work on the areas of development.”

Hopefully Jones has not had too many sleepless nights in pulling a team together for this week’s game. Whatever the side, it’s a chance for the players to show what they can do against one of the most consistent performers in this division.

Kick-off at Oxstalls Sports Park is 2.30pm.