Banbury Bulls player-coach Grant Holmes is hoping for a less stressful weekend as his side bid to end the year on top of Midlands 2 East South.

Holmes had to play himself on the wing as Banbury won 27-0 at Peterborough Lions on Saturday and feared he may not get a team together at one point.

But victory at home to Aylestone St James this week will ensure Bulls top the pile.

“I didn’t have a very pleasant 24 hours leading up to the match with several players pulling out through illness and it was a real struggle to get a side together,” said Holmes.

“It was far from ideal, but one or two players who haven’t played so far this season answered my desperate phone calls.

“Eventually, we were able to get 15 players on the pitch and have one on the bench.

“Luckily most of us came through the game reasonably unscathed, so being two short on the bench didn’t become an issue.

“Hopefully, this weekend we will have a bigger squad of players fit to play and I will have selection headaches of another sort.”