HEAD coach Dan Protherough said his Bromsgrove side will be looking to secure another confidence-boosting victory when they host Dudley Kingswinford tomorrow.
The fixture at Finstall Park will be the first time the two sides have met since they were relegated from National Two North last season.
Dudley have yet to claim a victory in National Three Midlands, while Bromsgrove have suffered two defeats in their opening four games.
And Protherough admitted they have both been struggling for confidence after claiming it had been “shattered” last season.
“We are just trying to learn how to win again.” he said. “Dudley are a great club with a lot of tradition and are trying to bring local players through, which is what you should be doing at this level.
“But they also had a tough year and are trying to get things right again,
“You only need to look at other sports to see how difficult it is when your confidence takes a battering. For instance, when a team comes down from the Premiership in football, there are very few who go straight back up.
“Also the dynamics of the group change. Instead of being all positive, you start blaming others for your mistakes and we need to get away from that and get into a positive mindset.
“But I am expecting a tough game on Saturday with plenty of commitment and we will have to be at our best to beat them.”
Bromsgrove’s confidence was boosted last Saturday when they came back from 21-10 down to defeat 32-21 Burton. Protherough praised the performance of the returning Phil Horton as his hat-trick turned the match on its head.
But the Bromsgrove boss insisted there was still plenty of room for improvement as they look to climb up the league table.
“It is great to have Phil back.” Protherough added. “He is a fantastic player who I have coached at Droitwich and thankfully now at Bromsgrove. He is someone I rate very highly and has brought a lot to the team.
“We were losing 21-10 and then his tries meant we were 25-21 up at half time and then he scored again. But we should have run in another two or three tries and that is where we are at the moment.
“We are not putting sides to bed. It cost us the week before against Sutton and it almost cost us against Bournville, so we have got to become more ruthless.”
