Doncaster Knights: Castle Park crowd can be ‘23rd man’

“The support, both home and away, has been excellent this season and the players and coaching staff really appreciate it,” said the club’s director of rugby in the build-up to the game which is expected to attract the biggest gate of the season to date at Castle Park.

“It’s always hard when you go away and the atmosphere can be hostile, as it was recently at Bedford, which makes it a test of character.

“We want to make coming to Castle Park as tough as possible for visiting teams and the crowd can certainly play their part in that.”

Griffiths, whose side were not in action over the festive period last year, questioned this week why clubs are required to play this weekend but have a blank fixture in a fortnight’s time.

“Players like spending time with their families and playing on Boxing Day does affect their Christmas Day and obviously they have to be careful what they eat and drink,” he said.

“It’s not so much how much they eat it’s more what they eat. We’ve spoken about it this week and they are all professional and I don’t think it will be a problem.

“They know that if they over-indulge it not only affects their own performance but that of the team in what is a massive game in terms of our top-four ambitions.”