Old Patesians host Marlborough on Saturday looking to kick-start their South West One East campaign.

They’ve won three and lost seven of their 10 league games following their relegation from South West Premier and Chris Downes, who took over as head coach at the start of the season, admits the club are “in transition”.

“It’s a transition of different coaching methods and different players,” said Downes, who took over from Craig Jones.

Former Pats player Downes brought Ben Smith with him to the club – they have been an effective coaching pair at the University of Gloucestershire – but injuries have not helped the Pats cause this season.

“We’ve lost key players,” said Downes. “We’ve got six or seven long-term injuries which isn’t ideal.

“It’s tough at the moment and results probably aren’t always an accurate indicator of endeavour.

“We are getting better and better and we’re playing better for longer in games.

“We had an excellent 40 minutes against Chippenham last week but unfortunately we had a poor 40 minutes as well and that’s what beat us.”

Downes has been encouraged by the high numbers that are still turning up for training on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and he remains very positive.

“It’s not easy and Ben I knew it wouldn’t be when we took the job on,” said Downes. “But this is my club and I was always going to enjoy it.

“It’s tough at the moment but it will be worth it in the end.”

Pats won only a handful of league games last season after winning promotion in 2017/18 and Downes continued: “We can’t attract players through our facilities, we have to grow holistically, develop our own players and project ourselves well so that players want to join the club.”

That takes time, of course, but Downes says he is in it for the long haul.

“I remember when I was coach at Pats when we were in National Three,” he said. “I think we lost our first nine games and we still finished seventh.

“There’s no panic, there’s a lot of games to be played, we’re taking the long-term view.

“We’ll take stock at the end of the season and we’ll go again next year. Changing the coaching processes takes time.

“As coaches we like to challenge players, question why they do certain things and that’s something that is new to the players.”

Downes works closely with his right-hand man Smith – they still coach at the University of Gloucestershire, who play in the third tier in BUCs rugby which is a decent standard.

“We see each other six days a week, I think we’ve got very patient partners,” laughed 37-year-old Downes.

“We work very well together, I trust and respect Ben professionally and personally.

“We push each other and if we don’t agree on something we work it through. He’s a cracking guy and a cracking coach.”

Downes confirmed that if the Everest Road pitch isn’t playable on Saturday the club will look to switch the game to another venue.

He said that depending on availability, the Prince of Wales Stadium, Newlands or Oxstalls were all possibilities.