BASINGSTOKE RFC reach the halfway stage of their London one campaign when they meet the last team they have still to play, Sutton and Epsom.

And coach Jim Dixon is hopeful his side will earn only their second victory in 11 matches after the ranks came close to claiming Cambridge's scalp last weekend.

The 33-50 reverse at Down Grange saw a vast improvement in basement team 'Stoke's display, as they recorded their biggest points tally of the season.

Dixon said: "We had an excellent warm-up session and really took it into the game against Cambridge. It was just a few errors that, again, cost us, but we are eradicating these. If we continue like this, we will soon win.

"The backs played well, but I felt the forwards put in their best performance so far. There was a willingness to share the workload and not leave the tackles to one or two players.

"It was disappointing, having played as we did, not to have held on for the points, but if we get our set-pieces right for tomorrow, I am confident we'll get the win we vitally need."

Dixon, 27, has again been forced into reshuffling his side, and the versatile forward takes up a position he hasn't played since he was at school - hooker.

Matt Evans (ribs) is out until after Christmas, while veteran Mark Bushnell, who played last week, is on holiday.

"I've spent a good few hours in training practising my throwing," said Dixon.

"Hooker will take some getting used to as I haven't played there for a long time, but there's no one else, so you have to put yourself out for the team.

"But I think we'll have a strong front row with myself, Phil and Roberto."

Ross Stirling returns in the second row, and Dixon is delighted about the Gloucester University student's inclusion.

"We need Ross in our lineout, where he makes a huge difference," said the Kiwi. "We lost eight of ours against Cambridge and that, ultimately, led to us losing the game."

Recent new acquisition Sebastian Berti has injured his back and is out for a couple of weeks, meaning Darren Lillywhite comes in at scrum-half.

'Stoke: Matt Lucas, Carl White, Simon Buckland, Vincent Feausi, Ollie Rogers, Ian Calder, Darren Lillywhite; Phil Perkins, Jim Dixon, Roberto Bussati, Andy Wilson, Ross Stirling, Chris Hampson, Simon Appleby, Tom Northcote. Replacements: Mark Rushworth, Dan Rees, David Jones.