Canterbury RFC head coach Andy Pratt admits his side have “lost the foundations” of their fantastic last campaign but has backed the squad to bounce back in National 2 South.

A third straight defeat – and fourth in five games in all – at home to Bishop’s Stortford on Saturday, has left the city club in the bottom three with just seven points from five games. However, Pratt backed his players to turn it round in time.

He said: “It is a form and confidence issue at the moment. The issues are the same as they were last week, we need to keep working.

“There is no conflict or blame culture, we are all in this together and we have all got to hold our hands up.We have lost our foundations, really.

“We lost the set-pieces pretty convincingly on Saturday and basic errors cost us. We couldn’t hold on to the ball for long enough to cause them any real problems.”

He added: “Pressure is the key word. On the field we are not applying enough, while we can’t deal with it well enough at the other end.”

Canterbury’s battle to avoid a fourth straight loss looks a tough one as they visit Cornwall – a county where they have never won – on Saturday, to take on Redruth.

Pratt added: “It’s not exactly ideal when you’re in this situation but it gives us a chance to spend time together and get away from everything and focus on our rugby.

“There are no expectations on us. We have not won away in Cornwall, let alone at Redruth and we’re in for another tough afternoon no matter what.

“I’ve tried to calm down expectations after last season, which was maybe needed after we had such a good run of form but it’s gone the other way now.

“We can get back to form. I have no doubt and we still have good players capable of match-winning performances.”

Sam Rogers (concussion) is set to miss out.