Harrogate RUFC's Martyn Wood expecting 'tough' test on his return to Hull Ionians RUFC

Currently second-from-bottom of National Two North, the Aces go head-to-head with the side who sit third in the table having won nine of their 11 league outings to date.

This weekend’s fixture sees ‘Gate director of rugby Martyn Wood return to one of his previous clubs, having led the Brantingham Park outfit to promotion to National One during a three-year spell which ended in 2019 when he joined Leeds Carnegie.

But Harrogate’s former England international scrum-half insists that he will treat Saturday’s game the same as any other.

"I am going back to an old club at the weekend, but there’s nothing more riding on this match from a personal point of view than there is any other,” Wood said.

"The only thing that will be different is that I’ll be looking forward to catching up with some old faces and some people I know very well after the game.

"It’s going to be a difficult test. It’s always tough going to Ionians. They’ve got a lot of good, experienced players, who just know how to win games of rugby and grind out results.

"But we go there confident that we can give them a game. We didn’t get the result that we wanted at Tynedale last weekend, but morale is still high among the players, we have a good team spirit inside our dressing room and so it is another fixture that we are looking forward to.”