BASINGSTOKE RFC head coach James Croker says he is interested in league points rather than local derby bragging rights ahead of a trip to Portsmouth.

’Stoke and Portsmouth have enjoyed some epic battles in recent seasons, the most recent coming in March, when Basingstoke edged home 32-27 in a Hampshire Cup semi-final.

Saturday’s match (kick-off 3pm) promises to be another hard hitting encounter – but Croker is refusing to be drawn into the Hampshire derby mentality.

“Bragging rights do not concern me,” he said. “All I am worried about is points and getting another win.”

Portsmouth have lost two of their three games so far this season but they ran league leaders Chichester close and come into the game on a high after beating Sutton and Epsom 33-10 last time out.

“We do not know a lot about Portsmouth but they had a good result against Chichester and ran us close in the semi-final of the Hampshire Cup last year,” Croker added. “We’ll just go there, play our game, be abrasive, enjoy it and look for the win.”

’Stoke are up to second in the London One South table after making it three wins out of three with a 23-6 victory over Beckenham at Down Grange on Saturday.

Croker said: “We were sluggish out of the blocks but Beckenham are tough to break down. They are a big, physical team and I was pleased with the reaction in the second half.”

That game saw Freddie Gleadowe make his first appearance of the season. The centre is studying medicine at Southampton University and Croker admitted that his return came at the right time.

“It is good to have Freddie back and he is up there with the best centres at the club,” the ’Stoke coach added. “His return was a timely one because, while we have got strength in depth in the midfield, we had a few players unavailable last week.

“David Byett and Tim Richards are out injured, Tala Petelo has gone to Bracknell, Neil Posthumus has been posted to Afghanistan and Junior Korobiau has been unavailable for the last couple of weeks.”

Korobiau is back in contention for a place in the side this week, as is flanker Matt Horne – but scrum-half Jamie Fish will miss out. He was forced off in the early stages of the game against Beckenham after hurting his ankle and while a scan revealed no serious damage, Fish faces two or three weeks on the sidelines.

“Jamie will be a big loss because he is a different type of scrum-half but we do have cover,” Croker said. “Ben Hall stepped up last week though and we have faith in him.”