SWINDON College Old Boys head coach Mark Lea has said his team face an unknown quantity in their Dorset & Wilts Vase match this weekend.

Lea’s team will travel to Lytchett Minster on Saturday afternoon, who play their rugby in the Dorset & Wilts One South.

The College boss explained he doesn’t know much about Saturday’s opponents, but is confident his team can still come away with a win.

“It’s a bit of an unknown to be honest. They play in an equivalent league and they seem to be going well,” said the Old Boys head coach.

“They score a lot of tries, so we don’t know what to expect. We’re travelling down there on Saturday with a lot of players unavailable.”

If Lea’s side are to get the result they are looking for, they will need to do it with a number of players missing.

Trio Michael Bizley (Ankle), Dan Thomas (Back) and Nick Tuckett (Hamstring) are out with injuries while Liam Davis, Tommy Farr, Tom Birnie, Anthony Weston, Luke Sawyer, Adam Reeves, Terry Gibbs, Michael Calvert, Liam Spillane, Jamie Park, Stuart Knight and Charlie Grabe are all also unavailable.

Despite the high number of absentees, Lea is adamant College will still be able to take a strong team to Dorset.

“We are going to take a mixed side from first and second, which is good, but I don’t know what to expect from them,” added Lea. “We can only play what we play and hope that it is enough. To be honest, we have played at this level for long enough to know if we play to our strengths, usually that’s enough to compete, if not win.

“All we can say to the boys is: 'you have to defend well, and then play the structures we have tried to coach over the last few years'.”

Lea’s opponents are currently occupying third place in their league and have only lost one of their opening four matches so far.

However, the College also go into the game on a good run of form which has seen them win all three of their league games so far, enough to place them in third in the Berks/Bucks & Oxon Premier.

Last time out, they were able to record a hard-fought win away at Chesham, in a game which finished 22-11 to the visitors. College aren’t the only side involved at this stage in the competition as Supermarine will be hoping to rectify last weekend’s loss to Melksham with victory in the cup.

The Dorset & Wilts One North side face a tricky test when they host Weymouth and Portland on Saturday.

Weymouth & Portland go into the game after an inconsistent run of form which has seen them win two and lose two our their opening four, with their most recent loss coming against Wimborne 2nd last weekend.