DUDLEY Kingswinford director of rugby Neil Shillingford is targeting an early away win for his side when they get their season underway this Saturday.

Shillingford thinks the season opener at Sutton Coldfield could offer his side the perfect chance to hit the ground running away from Heathbrook.

The coach is keen to avoid a repeat of last season's early away form in Midlands One West that stalled the club's progress.

It took DK until their sixth away game - a clash with Silhillians in December - before they picked up their first victory on the road.

Shillingford said: "Picking up an away win as soon as we can is something we have spoken about.

"It is important that we quickly get that under our belts and get into the mentality of picking up the points away from home even when everything doesn't go our way.

"It will be a massive boost for us, especially if it can happen in our very first game at Sutton Coldfield."

Shillingford admits that the league is going to be even more competitive this term but is happy with how pre-season preparations have gone.

"I have some very difficult selection decisions to make ahead of the first game," he added.

"We have a lot of strength in depth this season, which has been highlighted with how well everyone has done in our warm-up games.

"People have put their hands up and are pushing to be selected.

"It is hard to know which teams will be challenging for promotion or those that will be down near the relegation places this season. We can't base team selection on that so we will just be focusing on ourselves.

"It is a strong league but we want to be up there challenging toward the top of the table. The squad is stronger than last year and I can see that what we are doing on the training paddock is being transferred to the games we have played, which is all you can ask as a coach."

DK lost their last warm-up game 10-7 when Bridgnorth visited Heathbrook last Saturday but the nature of the performance pleased the director of rugby.

The club's first home game will be against Whitchurch on September 10 (3pm).