BOURNEMOUTH boss Will Croker admitted the decision to blood youngsters in tomorrow’s clash with Brixham had been made with an eye on the future.

Inexperienced duo Robbie Boyd and James Fisher are set to come into Lions’ squad for the trip to Devon, the former due to start at fly-half, while second-row Fisher will take his place on the bench.

Both players have been regulars in the Lions II team that has won 19 games out of 19 in Dorset & Wilts One South this term and with both promotion and relegation off the radar for Croker’s side, the boss was keen to give the youngsters a chance (2.30pm).

Croker told the Daily Echo: “We wouldn’t have changed the team if we were winning and if we were up in contention, we may have been a little more circumspect.

"But with the situation we find ourselves in and the injuries we have sustained, rather than shuffling the same players into a different order just to fill holes, we wanted to reward the guys who have been playing well in the seconds.

“Those guys deserve their chance and I am delighted they are ready to step up. It’s an opportunity for us to look at them as they may well figure next season. We have one eye on the future and want to build for next year.

“Robbie has played a couple of games in the thirds this season so that shows how well he has done to be considered for this.

“He is surrounded by experience with Sam Hardcastle at nine and Scott Chislett at 12, so hopefully, they will take some pressure off him.”

Bournemouth will be without Ben Allman and Joe Rees due to knee injuries, while Luca Firetto is unavailable.

And while Lions may sit seventh in the table, Croker is still targeting a top-three spot.

He added: “This is a tough game for us. Brixham is never easy, partly because of how far it is and partly because they are a good side. After that we have three games I believe we should win – Newton Abbot, Cleve and Dings.

“If we can pinch something from this weekend and win the remaining games, we can still finish third which would be a terrific result based on the fact we have a new coaching team and new players.

“If we could finish third or fourth we would absolutely be in the box seat for a big season next year, not to say we wouldn’t if we finished fifth or sixth, but from a psychological perspective, finishing higher buoys the players.”

Meanwhile, Lions front-row Joe Tarrant came off the bench for London Irish in their 36-0 A League defeat to Exeter Braves on Monday.