Minehead Barbarians return to action on Saturday after five weeks on the sidelines when they travel to Stothert and Pitt in Tribute Somerset Premier.

The Babas last played on November 27 when they became the first team to take points off league leaders Weston Hornets this season, drawing 23-23.

The Davey Field side returned to training this week in preparation for the tie and head coach Andrew Stevens was encouraged by the turn out. He said: “There were about 30 there, which is unheard of for the first week after Christmas. Normally people stay away because they expect to be made to do a lot of running to burn off their Christmas weight, but everyone turned up.

“And they weren’t disappointed; there was plenty of running!”

Minehead have been able to train throughout the cold snap as they have had use of Danesfield School’s artificial pitch but Stevens admitted he was a little concerned his side would be a little rusty after such a long period without a game.

He said: “We’ll be going in a little cold and we might be a little rusty. No away games are easy in this league in any circumstances, let alone the one we’re in now.

“Everyone’s really keen to get a game under their belts though and we’re itching to play.

“I’m sure we’ll put a good performance together and hopefully come away with the points.”

Given their form in October and November Minehead could reasonably expect Saturday’s game to be a stroll in the park but with their lack of match practice Stevens is taking nothing for granted.

He said: “We have to go into the game switched on from the off and do the basics well. If we do that then we should be fine but if we get caught off guard we could be in for a tough day at the office.”