WILL Croker urged his Bournemouth players to use all of their experience in a bid to return to winning ways.

Lions suffered a gut-wrenching 30-13 defeat at runaway leaders Dings Crusaders last time out – their fifth loss in 18 South West Premier fixtures.

But having held on to second spot in the division, the club’s head coach is eager to see a positive reaction when Exmouth visit Chapel Gate on Saturday (2.30pm).

Croker told the Daily Echo: “One of the blessings about having a slightly older team is most of the guys have been there, seen it and done it, to an extent.

“They have been part of both promotion and relegation teams, so it meant they were able to view the Dings game for what it was.

“We always knew it was going to be a really tough game and we made life harder for ourselves by not starting well.

“It’s now a case of refocusing and getting back to what we do best. We had a really good session on Tuesday. We changed things up a little bit to make them think.

“We got down and dirty to correct some of the wrongs from last week and now everyone cannot wait to get stuck in.

“It’s a big home fixture, Exmouth always bring a few people to watch and it’s a game I think everyone is relishing.”

Freddie Gleadowe is unavailable which means Danny Kirkpartick is named in the Bournemouth team. Joe Spiller comes onto the bench in place of Pat Fraser.

“We have made very few changes and want to give those who lost at Dings the opportunity to put it right,” added Croker.

“They have been our go to guys for the past three months and we want them to have the opportunity to send a message to the rest of the league.

“We know we have a lot of firepower in our arsenal, it’s a case of having the ball for long enough to use it.”

Bournemouth overcame Exmouth 27-17 in Devon when the sides met back in October.

“Exmouth was one of the games which I think gave the boys hope,” Croker added.

“We went there and the conditions were awful but we played really controlled rugby to the point where Exmouth looked punched out at the hour mark.”

The visitors have won three of their past four league fixtures and are sixth in the league table.