Andy Pratt admitted Canterbury Rugby Club’s defeat against high-flying Dorking felt like a step backwards and revealed he is seeking to bolster his squad.

The city club lost 46-19 at the newly-promoted Surrey side and are stuck in the bottom three of National 2 South, with two more serious injuries.

Ben Massey (knee) and Dan Smart (broken arm) join a lengthy list of long-term absentees and Pratt has acknowledged he needs fresh faces to help steer his side up the table.

He said: “I am having to look at getting some reinforcements, although I don’t generally like to do it during the season.

“We’ve got probably 10 serious injuries at the moment and with a squad of our size, we just can’t sustain it. I’m not making excuses and I’m sick of talking about it but we are looking at our options.”

Kiwi back-row Adam Cathcart is set to provide a timely boost when he arrives next week following the end of the New Zealand season.

Pratt admitted there were few positives to take from the Dorking defeat, adding: “The previous two games we could take some positives and look forward but if I’m frank, it was at least one step back for us.”

He added: “Confidence is pretty fragile and our composure has been lacking at times.
“The three sin-binnings certainly didn’t help and two of them were avoidable, although the players did apologise to me after.

“We did come back from 32-0 at one stage to 32-19 after we’d woken up and had a chance of one or even two bonus points but then our old frailties came back.

“We need to stick together, stay tight and work on getting our basics right, like the set-piece and the defence, catching, passing and tackling. It’s achievable – nothing too complicated.

“The previous week we almost beat the leaders and the week before we almost won at a tough Ding’s. Had we had victories, then we might have some confidence but as it is now, if we fall behind, we look vulnerable.”

Chinnor visit Merton Lane on Saturday (3pm) sat in the top-five and Pratt admitted: “They invested a lot in the summer and have some good players.

“They are taking a bit of time to gel and that’s maybe why they are not right up there.”