"We have had a very good look at ourselves this week, we knew we had more than enough to beat Redruth last week, but on the day we didn't produce the type of control we needed to do."

Matt Salter was in defiant mood when asked about how Clifton would respond to their 30-35 loss to Redruth last week in a game where the lead changed hands several times. Despite going behind early, Clifton produced some scintillating attack and dominating large portions of the game but were punished for unforced errors and a high penalty count that gave Redruth field position.

"You can't give them an easy ride into your 22. When we defended well, we got good outcomes and got the ball back, but too often in the middle of the park we gave away penalties and gave them a platform to assert their game. We know what we can do both sides of the ball, we've been going well lately and we need to ensure we assert the type of dominance we have been this weekend against Esher."

Esher have had a mixed time since their relegation from National 1 this season, with Peter Winterbottom's side winning 8 of their 14 games in Nat 2S. Their loss to Westcliff last week will be something that they will be looking to rectify when Clifton visit Moseley Road on Saturday.

"They have developed a good attacking game plan and they come hard and direct in defence, we've had a look at how they play this week but more importantly, how we can break them down and identified where we can cause them problems."

This weekend sees a large number of players return as Salter welcomes back Harry Bate, Fin Sharp, Joe Quinn and Mitch Spencer whilst they wait on the availability of Hooker Luke Stratford, who is being monitored following leaving the field early last week. Dan Broady is also being monitored but Jack Clement and Reece Dunn are in action with Gloucester on Monday night when they face Northampton at Franklins Gardens in the Premiership Shield.

With 2 games remaining of the year in the run up to Christmas, Clifton will be looking to re-establish their pressure at the top of the table, as they currently sit 9 points behind leaders Tonbridge and 4 behind 3rd place Taunton. With both teams looking to bounce back from defeat last week, it promises to be a physical and exciting encounter.