COLCHESTER Rugby Club’s players will step up their preparations for a historic season when they head to Guernsey this weekend.

The Mill Road club are in pre-season training in readiness for their National League Three curtain-raiser at home to Gravesend, on September 5 and will use the game in the Channel Islands to continue honing their skills.

Colchester lost 65-5 in their friendly at Bishop’s Stortford on Wednesday night, but head coach Anthony O’Riordan is looking forward to gauging his players’ fitness.

He said: “The trip to Guersney was booked long before we were looking at promotion.

“It’s a case of us going away for the weekend and it’ll be a good measure of where we’re at.

“This week is a measuring stick for us and by the end of Sunday, we’ll know where we are.

“Our lads aren’t paid and they play because they love it.

“We have to condense things without losing focus and there’s a tendancy to get caught up on pre-season fixtures.

“We came back a bit earlier than usual.

“Last year, we started pre-season late because we had a new coaching team.

“It’s been really good so far and the most professional pre-season I’ve been involved in, with an amateur group.

“We’re the fittest I’ve ever known us at Colchester, in my time as coach and assistant coach.”

Meanwhile, O’Riordan has pledged to keep faith in the players that clinched the club a historic promotion at the end of last year.

After their superb title-winning efforts last year, O’Riordan says he is happy to give his existing squad the chance to shine at a higher level.

O’Riordan said: “We’ve retained the squad that we had last year, which was the main thing for us.

“Some clubs tend to forget about the guys who’ve secured the promotion for them.

“We made it clear to our players that we won’t go out looking for players to replace the boys. They’ve done the work to get us there and deserve the opportunity to shine and that loyalty is our strength at Colchester.