MALVERN head coach Liam Hughes has made just one injuryenforced change to his Malvern side who battled so well against National Three Midlands pacesetters Rugby Lions.

For tomorrow’s trip to Syston (3pm), Andy Cannock has been drafted in to the second row to replace Swedish international Rickard Ornberg, who has been ruled out by a rib injury.

The 10th-placed Spring Lane outfit travel to a team two places above them in the table looking to continue their recent trend of putting in impressive performances against the top sides in the league.

An away win would see Malvern leapfrog Syston in the division and help Hughes’ side complete the double over their Leicestershire hosts.

When the two sides met at Spring Lane in October, the Malvern defence were outstanding in shutting the Syston attack out and limited them to just three penalties in a 20-9 victory.

Hughes said: “Syston have a core of talented players and they were inspired in the reverse fixture by number eight Adam Nunney.

“We’re confident that, if we can disrupt their platform and attack the setpiece, we will limit their big players to few opportunities to get them moving.

“We saw a huge performance against Rugby Lions two weeks ago led by man-of-the-match and captain Matt Williams which we’ve taken a lot of confidence from.

“We don’t want to see all that hard work lost now by a below-par performance on the road.”

Malvern were without a game last weekend, while Syston suffered a 48-7 home demolition at the hands of Longton.

The week before, Hughes’ men took a well-earned bonus point off the Lions, who are 16 points clear at the top of the table, with a narrow 16-13 defeat, while Syston lost 24-17 at Scunthorpe.

First XV v Syston (a, 3pm): Milton; Dipple, Mustow, Watkins, Southall; Dixon, Longley; Tsang, Humphreys, Pickard, Williams, Cannock, Marshall, Jones, Gratwohl. Replacements: Clark, Daws, Miller.

Development XV v Ludlow II (a, 2.15pm): Franssen; Griffiths, Fleming, Hillier, Jenkins; Budd, Oliver; Cooper, Prosser, Irish, Wilkes, Smith, Clarke, Edwards, Griffiths. Replacements: Gerry, Fraser, Cooney.