London Scottish Head Coach James Buckland believes a win over Bristol on Saturday would set down a marker for next season but admits his side face a massive challenge against the promotion favourites.
The Scots go into their final Greene King IPA Championship match of the season at Richmond Athletic Ground, 3pm kick-off, in good spirits having recently seen off Bedford Blues and Jersey.
Bristol, however, are the form side in the Championship and head to south west London on the back of a 12-match winning run and their free-scoring style of rugby has helped them amass 17 try bonus points this season.
Andy Robinson’s side are guaranteed to finish the regular season top of the table whilst London Scottish will finish fifth.
Nevertheless Buckland expects a full-on encounter when the teams meet this weekend.
He said: “We have a Bristol side coming here who are the hot favourites going into the play-offs and flying high and they will want to maintain their momentum.
“Whoever is selected for Bristol will want to stick their hand up for the remaining games.
“They are a team who start fast and score plenty of tries and whilst some people are talking about them changing their tactics for the knock-out stages, I don’t think we will see much difference this weekend.”
He continued: “To have our last game of the season at home is brilliant and we can say thank-you to our own fans.
“It is going to be an emotional day for a few players leaving and we are just going to do our best to put in a performance, hopefully putting that emotion into the game.
“The boys have worked really hard all year and we have a team who can put on a show.
“We want to get a good result against Bristol which would put us in good stead heading into next season.
“To beat three of the teams in the play-offs would be fantastic going into next year, when, in my opinion, the league will be tougher whether it’s Newcastle or Worcester who come down.”
Tickets for Saturday's game can still be bought online here or at the gate on the day
London Scottish team to play Bristol Rugby at Richmond Athletic Ground, on Saturday, April 26th, 3pm kick-off.
15, Jim Thompson, 14, Mike Doneghan, 13, Lee Millar, 12, PJ Gidlow, 11, Miles Mantella, 10, Dan Newton, 9, Sam Stuart, 1, Eric Fry, 2, Adam Kwasnicki, 3, Tomas Francis, 4, Tyler Hotson, 5, Dave Lyons, 6, Neil Best, 7, Matt Everard, 8, Mark Bright (c).
Replacements: 16, Tedd Stagg, 17, Jamie Kilbane, 18, Lewis Thiede, 19, Tommy Spinks, 20, Jordi Pasqualin, 21, Andy Reay, 22, Dante Mama.
