Fylde RFC boss anticipates a tough task as they return to action against Wharfedale

They welcome Wharfedale to the Woodlands for their opening game of 2020, looking to follow up their impressive pre-Christmas win over Preston Grasshoppers.

On paper, a match between the teams sitting second and 12th in National Two North would seem to heavily favour a Fylde side currently positioned eight points behind leaders Caldy.

It isn’t a viewpoint, however, with which the Fylde coach necessarily agrees.

“The league table isn’t something to get carried away with,” Spragg said.

“There are a lot of very good teams and, in my opinion, there are teams at the top end who aren’t as good as those scrapping at the bottom.

“Nobody should expect Wharfedale to be pushovers by any means.

“They are a good team, they are well organised and they have quality all across the pitch.

“They had an 11-try game against Sedgley Park before Christmas when they lost 39-36 so that should serve as a warning.”

Fylde do, however, go into the game looking to complete a league double against Saturday’s opponents.

They ran out 32-19 winners when the two sides met in September, taking maximum points in the process after building a 29-0 advantage by half-time.

As well as turning up with the right attitude, Spragg’s other hope is that his players also display no rustiness after two weeks without a game over the Christmas and New Year period.

“We beat them up there when we had a crazy spell and scored four tries which got us away from them,” he said.

“I’m expecting a tough game but I’m nervous about how the players perform after that Christmas break.

“Hopefully we’re on it from the first minute because we’ll need to be.”