WINNINGTON Park have called on help from old friends to inspire the club’s senior players ahead of a new season.

And Dave Allcock, appointed as director of rugby at Burrows Hill earlier this summer, believes it has done the trick.

The first team will host higher-ranked Anselmians in the Cheshire RFU Bowl on Saturday buoyed by emphatic wins in warm-up games against Congleton and Flint.

“So far, so good,” said Allcock.

“We’ve seen great commitment and desire from everybody, and that’s given us genuine competition for places in all positions.

“Anselmians will pose a much sterner test though, and we’ll need to show the same determination against them that we did to stop Flint scoring.”

Allcock has arranged for stars from Park teams in the past, including former England international Dewi Morris and Paul Rees, to take training this summer.

He told the Guardian their input has had the desired effect, with larger numbers reporting for duty as new head coach Matt Farr develops a side he hopes can challenge for promotion.

Park finished sixth last term.

However they have showed early promise in two outings so far; a 55-31 success at home to league rivals Congleton was followed by a 76-0 thrashing of Flint.

Allcock said: “It will take time to settle, we know that.

“But the attitude we’ve seen is the right one; the sessions with Dewi and Paul went down well, and it was heartening to see the lads listening to what they had to say.”

“When I asked them, they didn’t hesitate to say ‘yes’, and why wouldn’t you call on the know-how those two have?”