MALVERN’S director of rugby Dave Irish insists he will not dwell on a blunder that cost his side a five-point deduction.

Irish says his side will be aiming to repair the damage when they host Pinley in Midlands Two West (South) tomorrow (2.15pm).

“Unfortunately, we have dropped a place to fifth because we have had five points deducted for fielding an ineligible player,” explained Irish.

“It was down to a bit of a mix-up when we were unable to confirm a player’s availability due to an internet problem.

“It has happened and we have lost five points. We have 33 points in the bag and the second-half of the season to look forward to.”

Malvern have lost their last two league matches but Irish is looking to start the new year with a confident display against Pinley, who are now one position higher in the table.

“We had a series of unfortunate incidents in the run-up to our last game of 2014 at Old Yardleians,which we lost 27-10,” said Irish.

“Luke Milton came down with a sickness bug the night before the match, we lost two other players and I had to sit on the bench.

“In the warm-up, our prop split open his eye and it meant I had to come onto the pitch with 20 minutes to go. I only said I would play in emergencies and that was classed as an emergency — but I hope it doesn’t happen too often.

“We had six or seven players missing from our starting 15 and were always facing an uphill battle.”

Irish believes his men face a tough challenge against Pinley but is confident of avenging a 32-15 away loss in September.

“When we played there earlier in the season we had a much weaker side with a lot of young players and they were a bit intimidated,” said Irish.

“Pinley are tough to play against but I am confident we should be able to overpower them if we are able to play rugby and have a strong official in charge.

“We know they have a strong number eight, a very good fly-half and a bit of pace out wide but hopefully we can cut off their supply.”

Malvern trained twice over the Christmas break to keep everyone’s fitness topped up.

“We will be selecting from a full squad, apart from Tom Hale who is out for the season after a shoulder operation before Christmas,” added Irish.

“Connor Giggle suffered a broken arm against Bridgnorth but is keen to get back into action and we have to manage his comeback.”