Fylde RFC need to fire on all cylinders at Hull Ionians warns boss Chris Briers

Last weekend's 74-5 victory over Harrogate at the Woodlands left Fylde top of the table as the only side with a maximum 15 points after three games.

But the Ionians are among three other clubs to have won all three so far, including the notable scalp of Rotherham Titans.

Fylde's joint-head coach Chris Briers told The Gazette: “They will take confidence from that win and it's a ground where we have always struggled.

“We need to fire on all cylinders and make sure everything clicks from the word go in the way it did in the second half on Saturday.”

It's a sign of the standards set at Fylde that Briers wasn't wholly satisfied by that 12-try humbling of Harrogate.

“I think we left a few tries out there with a some daft offloads and situations when we should have passed but didn't,” he added.

“I still think we need to be more confident in our decision-making. Even if you don't make the best decision, you can make something good out of it if you go for it 100 per cent.”

The prolific Tom Carleton was again unavailable but Fylde's backs still shared eight of the tries to please former centre Briers.

He added: “We did strengthen in the summer by signing Jordan Dorrington, which makes a difference, and Adam Lanigan has had a new lease of life on the wing, having been predominantly a scrum-half last season.”

In the pack, there was a first start for former Vale of Lune flanker Henry Higginson and Briers said: “Henry played in the backs until he was 18 and brings a really good skill-set. We are fortunate to have a variety of styles in the back row.”

Despite Saturday's one-sided score, Briers remains hopeful of a more competitive league.

He explained: “At the start of last season, we were seeing teams battered each week but this time there haven't been many huge scorelines. In general, games seem to have been tighter.

“We don't choose the fixtures and we may have had a fortunate start but we'll need to get the mindset right on Saturday.”