MALVERN face an important but not defining game in their season when they travel to Scunthorpe tomorrow, according to director of rugby Andy Longley.

The Spring Lane side hope to bounce back from their first defeat of the season in National Three Midlands against Longton on Saturday, when they make the 310-mile round trip to North Lincolnshire (ko 3pm).

Ahead of their visit to Heslam Park, Longley concedes his fifth-placed side were outplayed by a dominant Longton but expects a positive reaction from his men.

He adds a victory over 11th-placed Scunthorpe could define Malvern’s progression over the rest of the campaign and says his side needs to show more “aggression and urgency”.

Phil Rawle returns to the Malvern back row tomorrow after being unavailable for the last two games. James Bennett replaces James Southall on the wing and Dave Smith takes over from Nick Murphy at second row.

Longley said: “Scunthorpe will be ready for us tomorrow.

“If we can win, it keeps us in sight of the top four, but if we lose we will be in the bottom half of the table.

“It’s not a defining game but it’s an important one.

“Scunthorpe will be really difficult, they have some dangerous runners in their side.

“Longton were dominant, we were not able to stop them. We were outplayed up-front but our defence was fantastic.

“It was one of the most one-sided games I have seen. But we don’t want to dwell on last week.

“Without getting the ball, like we failed to do against Longton, it’s a hard game.

“We’ve got to be ready for teams and play with real enthusiasm, urgency and aggression.”

Tomorrow’s Malvern teams.

First team v Scunthorpe (tomorrow, away – ko 3pm), travelling by bus, meet at Spring Lane at 9.45am and Ketch Hotel, Worcester, at 10am, from: J Tsang, N Byron, J Baker, A Cannock, D Smith, P Rawle, S Daws, C Griffiths, T Longley, A Dixon, I Mustow, R Fleming, A Billing (c), R Fransson, L Milton, R Gratwohl, M Humphreys, J Southall.

Development team v Cheltenham North (away, ko 3pm), meet at Spring Lane at 12.15pm, from: A Almond, M Prosser, D Wrightson, N Murphy, M Williams, R Hobbs, S Clark, O Marshall, C Oliver, J Doorbar, W Harris, R Watkins, G Fraser (c), J Hillier, C Shewring, J Budd, D Irish, O Jones.