Injuries have disrupted Canterbury’s preparation as they bid to rescue their place in the England Hockey League Premier Division this weekend.

Four first team squad regulars are ruled out, while two more are struggling to be fit for the promotion and relegation play-offs.

It is the second year running that Canterbury have played in the tournament, but last time they won all three of their games as promotion contenders, while this season they finished second from bottom of the top flight.

Player-coach Kwan Browne (pictured) said: "Psychologically it is different but I think we’ll be fine, because we did it last year."

Definitely out with injury are captain Matt Harper, Tom Richford, Richard Keir and Chris Laslett, while Rob Pryce and Liam Foster will hope to shake off injuries.

All the matches are played at Cannock Hockey Club, with Canterbury facing west conference champions University of Exeter at 6pm on Saturday, east champions Southgate at 3pm on Sunday and north champions University of Durham at 1.30pm on Monday.

The top two teams in the tournament will play in the Premier Division next season.