WILL Croker has backed Bournemouth to power through the pack of National Three South West contenders – provided they can replicate their home form on the road.

Lions remain on the fringes of a congested battle for supremacy, just nine points off the summit despite being perched fifth.

Head coach Croker takes his charges to Newton Abbot tomorrow (2.30pm) bidding to improve on a record of two victories from six away days this season.

“Our away form has been the biggest problem so far,” said Croker. “I believe we would have been that stand-out team had we put to bed one or two of those closely-contested matches on the road.

"The result at Old Patesians, missing out on the bonus point at Chippenham, losing after dominating for long periods at Lydney, we have been so close to fulfilling our potential. I genuinely believe we are the top side in the league and what we now have to do is pack up our home form and somehow transport it down to Devon.

“The watchword for us has been intensity. When we have got that right, top sides such as Barnstaple and Brixham have not looked like breaching us. We have to play at the level that stuns people a little bit and hopefully allows us to score a few more points.”

But while Abbot have lost seven out of 11 matches to date, Croker is not expecting a walk in the park at Rackerhayes.

“Their tough start to the season has surprised a few people,” he added. “Pre-season talk was about them being a good outfit who could put together a run of positive results.

“That said, they went out and did a huge job on Old Redcliffians two weeks ago which was a bit of a shock and from what we have heard, they were unlucky to lose out to Lydney last weekend.

“They won’t be mugs by any stretch of the imagination and Newton Abbot has always been a tough place to go. I went there as a player and remember the crowd being quite sizeable and vociferous.”

Croker anticipates naming an unchanged team. Steve Osborne is unavailable so Ryan Hughes takes his place on the bench.