Championship - No regrets for Mitchell at Carnegie as Doncaster Knights target just rewards

Carnegie will go into today’s game at Coventry bottom of the Championship, having lost seven of their eight games so far.

They were beaten 70-5 at London Irish a fortnight ago and 17-5 at home to London Scottish last week, when Mitchell made his return.

The current situation is probably the toughest in the club’s history, but Mitchell has no doubt Carnegie will come good.

“There’s huge talent here,” said the 32-year-old, whose previous clubs include Ospreys, Exeter Chiefs, Cardiff Blues and Newport Gwent Dragons.

“I definitely believe in the squad. That’s why I wanted to come when I got offered the chance. I like the club, I like the style of play and I’m confident we’ll move up the league.”

Mitchell played six times for Carnegie at the end of last season before joining Newcastle Falcons.

He has returned initially on loan but the deal will be extended to the end of the season.

He said: “It’s good to be back. It’s frustrating with the position we are in and the loss [against Scottish], but we’re ready to fight.”

New Zealand recruits fly-half Jade Te Rure and flanker Antonio Kiri Kiri are set to make their debut today and Mitchell reckons Carnegie have the players to pull clear of the relegation zone.

He said: “There’s boys returning from injury as well which is a positive.

“And the boys we’ve got, we are confident in their ability. It’s just the execution, we’re not where we want to be at the moment.”

Elsewhere, Doncaster Knights are looking to turn their improved performances in to an actual win this afternoon.

They head to Scottish fresh from pushing title-favourites London Irish close last week.

The 26-17 loss was a fifth successive loss but there was encouraging signs again for the South Yorkshire club who remain highly-competitive.

Doncaster make three changes with hooker Ben Hunter, lock Nick Civetta and winger Stevie McColl all returning to the starting line-up