London Scottish head coach James Buckland insists his side are ‘highly motivated’ to secure the win over Connacht this weekend which would keep their B&I Cup qualification hopes alive.

The Scots have suffered two narrow defeats against Pontypridd and Bristol Rugby in the opening two rounds and Buckland is determined to get back to winning ways ahead of a fortnight's break from competitive action.

“We have still got four games to go in this pool and there are plenty of points to play for,” Buckland said.

“The guys have been fantastic this week and have trained really hard.

“They know it's really important to get the win this weekend. 

“We don't want to go four weeks without a win and everyone is highly motivated to go and get the job done.”

Connacht themselves are without a win in Pool One of the B&I Cup and Buckland believes the Irish will be desperate to turn their fortunes around.

He continued: “The Sportsground is a difficult place to go and I'm sure after two heavy defeats Connacht will be looking to put on a performance.

“The one thing we can guarantee is that it will be blowing a gale and if we don't control how we use the elements and conditions and don't play in the right areas, it could be a long day.

“We need to make sure we are making good decisions all over the park.”

Watch James Buckland's LSTV interview here.

Listen to Peter Lydon's audio interview here.

London Scottish squad to play Connacht at The Sportsground in Round Three of the B&I Cup on Saturday, October 25th, 2.30pm kick-off.

15, Peter Lydon; 14, Connor Braid; 13, Chris Auld; 12, PJ Gidlow; 11, Miles Mantella; 10, Dan Newton; 9, Matt Heeks; 1, James Hallam; 2, Adam Kwasnicki; 3, Stewart Maguire; 4, James Phillips; 5, Tai Tuisamoa; 6, Gregor Gillanders; 7, Chris Walker; 8, Mark Bright (c).

Replacements:

16, Mark Lilley; 17, Todd Gleave; 18, Max Maidment; 19, Neil Best; 20, Sam Stuart; 21, Lee Millar; 22, Charlie Dochery.