Sutton & Epsom captain Sam Frost says tomorrow's game with Basingstoke at Rugby Lane is crucial to the club's promotion hopes.

Sutton are currently second in the table five points behind leaders Sutton but four points ahead of Basingstoke.

They will be looking for a repeat of their 20-12 victory over the same opponents four weeks' ago.

Frost said: "We know all about them having played them earlier in the season. It's a must-win game."

Despite a 20-9 defeat at Richmond in the Intermediate Cup last Saturday, Frost is confident his team-mates can produce another good performance.

He added: "We played really well and were very unfortunate not to come away with more from the game.

"Their defending was very good and we were held up on the line several times in the second half.

"Their try right on half-time killed us. If we had held on, we would have fancied our chances. We gave it everything we had.

"If we can do the same thing in the next game we will score tries because Basingstoke won't have a defence like Richmond had."

Sutton will be without Roger Redwin, Matt Leach and Andy Hall. Into the squad come back row Justin Van de Pant and flanker Pascal Davis.

December 21, 2001 13:00