'A chance to refocus': Doncaster Knights looking to kickstart season against Sale

That is the message from head coach Joe Ford after his team lost three of their opening five games in the first block of league fixtures; mixing head-turning victories at champions Ealing Trailfinders with head-scratching defeats at home to Nottingham and London Scottish, and on the road at Bedford Blues.

Next up at Castle Park tonight are Sale Sharks, one of four Premiership teams Ford played for in his career and a club he knows all about. The timing of their arrival is just what was needed.

“Sale coming to Castle Park is a brilliant event and it’s been good for the lads to be able to refocus on a fresh competition,” said Ford.

“You don’t necessarily know what’s coming with Sale’s team, are they going to go development or are they going to go full strength? So it’s pretty hard to fully preview them, but that has actually helped us because where we are as a team at the moment we need to fully concentrate on ourselves a bit more.

“This Cup block in particular will give us a good opportunity to do that. A good month to go and work really hard on what we want to get right.

“What we are right now is a team that has come together with so many changes over four months, there’s a lot of potential but it just takes time.

“We’ve got a new forwards coach (Darren Fearn), a new way of playing a little bit. It will come good, like anything does.”

Two more new players are being integrated tonight, with 20-year-old back rower Tom Currie from the start and his fellow loanee from Edinburgh team-mate, 19-year-old lock Euan McVie, from the bench.

What heartens Ford about their prospects of getting it right over time is the attitude of his players in training.

“That’s probably the thing that stood out the most,” he added. “How upset the lads are which shows they care, how hungry they are, almost single-minded to get this right.

“They’re working so hard, the players are taking a lot of ownership in a number of areas. To become a top team you’ve got to come through these moments.

“I’ve been speaking to Alex Sanderson (Sale director of rugby) – they’ve been to the final two years ago, play-offs last year, they’re a top team and they still have periods where they go through times like this. It’s all part of it.”