WOOTTON Bassett head coach Alan Low is enjoying the competition for places among his squad as they prepare to face the league leaders High Wycombe.

Despite having a two-week break for Christmas, the Bassett players have not had their feet up, with them using the club’s gym facilities to keep match fit, and many of the players who are lacking match time playing in the seconds team’s D&W Second XV Cup semi-final success.

Bassett will be without captain Tim Gallimore, who picked up an ankle injury in the gym, but Low is confident of upsetting the table toppers, who they beat 20-15 back in September.

“It’s a real big week for us this week with all three teams at the club playing, and we want to hit the ground where we left it as a club before Christmas,” said Low, whose side have won five on the bounce.

“Looking back we kind of know what we are expecting from High Wycombe.

“They are tough up front and have a very well drilled forward pack and to be fair when we played them at home we held them without our first choice scrum half available.

“That was one of the weekends I had my boots on and we managed to contain them really.

“Hopefully this weekend we are almost at 100 per cent availability for the forwards and that means competition for places again is massive. We’re in a lucky place at the moment.

“Competition in the forward sin general at the moment is really high so the boys know they have to work hard in the week and play well on the Saturday, because if they’re not there are people chomping at their heels.

“Since I have been at the club it is the first time we have had real competition in depth and it goes to show how much it helps having that strong competition.

“Coming up from below, with the seconds going so well as well, it has really helped the whole club.”