BASINGSTOKE RFC will look to bounce back to winning ways when they travel to Barnes on Saturday.

’Stoke suffered their first home defeat since the opening day of the season when they lost 28-7 against visiting Tring last weekend.

Basingstoke RFC director of rugby James Croker felt his side dominated possession in their last outing, but failed to make it count on the scoreboard.

Croker said: “There were plenty of positives to come out of the game but we just failed to go over the white wash.

“They defended well and then scored on the counter attack. That was their plan and it worked.

“When you look at our pack, we have a lot of young players so it all bodes well for the future and we will work in training to turn good possession into points.”

The trip to Barnes will see ’Stoke take on a side who are three places below them in the National League Three London table and have just two wins to their name so far this season.

They are currently on a run of seven straight losses, with their last win being a 21-18 success over Tring, which came in the first week of October. Their only other victory was against whipping boys Barking.

’Stoke will arrive with a record of two defeats in their last seven outings, but will once again have to re-shuffle their line-up as scrum-half Guy Wilkinson will miss the trip.

On the plus side, Steve Osborne and Tim Richards are available, Ryan Davis has recovered from injury and Gavin Dampies and Rob Clark are back from their trip to Dubai.

Croker said: “Barnes have a couple of flying wingers and they have a decent pack, but I think if we can get our driving maul going against them, we will stand a good chance of getting a result.”