Dean Richards says Doncaster Knights are fostering an “all hands on deck” mentality as they prepare to weather the toughest storm Champ Rugby can whip up.

The Castle Park outfit travel to high-flying Ealing Trailfinders on the resumption of second-tier hostilities today before welcoming heavily-backed table-toppers Worcester Warriors next week and then travelling to Bedford Blues – another of last year’s play-off semi-finalists – the following Friday.

They are three fixtures that are set to test Doncaster’s stretched resources to the hilt – and Richards, for one, is relishing it.

The veteran coach who led Leicester Tigers to domestic and European titles before enjoying long stints at Harlequins and Newcastle Falcons, was a high-profile appointment by the Knights in the summer. He said at the time when he inherited a squad scaling back to a hybrid model with players training only on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, that he was not going to be able to wave a magic wand and suddenly transform Doncaster’s fortunes.

Short-term help: Fly-half Tom Curtis of Sale Sharks has come in on a temporary basis to ease the strain on Dean Richards' "skinny" Doncaster Knights squad.

placeholder image — Short-term help: Fly-half Tom Curtis of Sale Sharks has come in on a temporary basis to ease the strain on Dean Richards' "skinny" Doncaster Knights squad.

And so it has proven, with the Knights winning just two of their opening five fixtures in a league in which one week you could be playing a full-time professional outfit, the next a part-time operation like theirs.

Nevertheless, the 63-year-old is enjoying the challenge, one that is testing his contacts in the game as much as it is his ability to raise his players’ levels on matchdays.

“We've never been in that position to go out and just buy people,” said Richards, given the reduction in budget he is working with as opposed to previous seasons.

“So, it's about getting players back fit and it's working with some of the Premiership clubs as well.

Doncaster's Telusa Veainu captains the side against Ealing Trailfinders today. (Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe)

“There’s a massive emphasis from a physio perspective in terms of getting the boys back as soon as possible. It's all hands on deck every week and everybody's working and putting their little bit in to make it happen.”

Inside centre Wilf McCarthy has been brought in on a long-term loan deal from Leicester Tigers and fly-half Tom Curtis is on a short-term agreement from Sale Sharks, but otherwise, Richards and his head coach Alan Dickens have been going with what they are working with during the week.

A squad he describes as still being “skinny” dominated the second half when beating Hartpury and put 56 points on the previously unbeaten Ampthill three weeks ago.

But either side of those there were away defeats at Cornish Pirates, newly-promoted Blackheath and Coventry at home last time out.

“It’s frustrating more than anything,” reflected Richards of an opening block of fixtures that left Doncaster eighth out of 14.

“We probably didn't deserve anything from the Cornish game, but ten hours on a bus is probably not ideal preparation.

“Blackheath and then Coventry are both games that we probably should have won, but our discipline let us down and we're just learning how to adjust to certain changes in the laws.

“And with a new squad, it's new ideas coming in and people just adjusting to things. So, actually, it's been good. Although we should have had probably four wins out of five rather than two out of five.”

That defeat against Coventry at Castle Park a fortnight ago only arrived in the dying moments and was one Doncaster took a losing bonus point from, which heartens Richards.

“They're a full-time squad and a bigger squad than us,” said Richards as he watched training on Thursday night. “They’ve spent a lot more money than us and we only lost it in the last minute.

“So there's a huge amount of potential there. It's just we're in a position whereby we've got to dot the i's, cross the t's a little bit better. Sort out the penalty count, which is probably about seven or eight too high on average at the moment and then things should be fine. That’s a little bit on the players, but it's how we prepare them for that as well.”

Ealing have been the dominant force in the second tier, topping the table in each of the last three seasons. But Doncaster have good memories down there, claiming a one-point victory two years ago in a season in which a Knights team led by Joe Ford did the double over the eventual champions.

“They're a pretty physical side,” offered Richards. “They have the most amount of dominant tackles made in the Champ week in, week out. So it'll be a good challenge for us on a pitch that we know because we train on a 3G.

“We know it's going to be a hard game, but we're looking forward to it. We've got absolutely nothing to lose.”