BASINGSTOKE RFC head coach Will Croker admits that winning promotion from London One South is probably beyond his side now, but he does not see his charges being drawn into a relegation scrap.

Nine games into the season, ’Stoke find themselves second-from-bottom with just nine points. Their position is somewhat false, the club having been deducted 15 points for fielding an ineligible player under a fake name, but the fact that they have now lost four games in a row is certainly cause for concern.

“It’s a tight league and one win could move us up several places, so we certainly are not panicking yet,” Croker said. “Every team can be beaten and as the weather worsens, I see a lot of tight matches and upsets. We just have to make sure that we pick up enough wins to ease away from the bottom of the table, but promotion is a really long shot now. We would have to win all of our remaining games and hope that others slip up.

“It’s time to take the pressure off the lads. We have a new team with a lot of young players. We have to start looking ahead to next season, when I think we will have a good side.”

It has been a rough month for the club, with seven members, including Croker and captain Freddie Gleadowe, facing possible sanction from the Rugby Football Union over their part in the unregistered player controversy.

A hearing is due to take place later this month, while the spectre of a motion of ‘no confidence’ in the board continues to hang over the club, but Croker does not feel that the off-field problems are too much of a factor in his side’s recent slump.

“We are trying to keep the politics out of the changing room as much as possible,” he said. “Most of the players just want to have a club where there are coaches, balls, cones, hot showers and food after the games.

“It is difficult to avoid at times, but I do not think it is affecting them massively.”

An extraordinary general meeting took place at the club last week, which included a debate on the motion of ‘no confidence’.

Chairman Dr Steve Tristram said: “It was a very good meeting. There were a lot of people there and it was very positive.

“We are planning to carry out some restructuring behind the scenes, and once that is done and the RFU hearing has taken place, we will call a meeting asking for a motion of confidence in both the new structure and the board.”