NEIL Mitchell has moved to strengthen Stourbridge’s ranks ahead of Saturday’s trip to Birmingham and Solihull by snapping up a couple of quality fly halves.

Former England Under-21 player Sam Robinson has finally declared himself fit to resume playing, while former Dudley Kingswinford player-coach Jon Higgins has joined the Stourton Park side as well.

Director of Rugby Mitchell maintained: “We have to have more strength in depth if we’re going to push for promotion and by having these two players on board, it only adds to the armoury.

“Gary Dipple has been bang on the mark at fly half, but we have to make sure there is cover for him .

“The beauty of having Jon and Sam on board is that they are completely different types of players Mitchell revealed that Robinson had intended to play three weeks ago, but then sustained an injury niggle.

He added: “Sam suffered a horrific injury five years ago when he broke his leg in three places. He was on the verge of going into full time rugby”.

Higgins has taken time out of rugby after leaving Dudley Kingswinford last season.

Mitchell insisted: “Jon’s a phenomenal player and reads the game really well. I watched him play for DK’s last season against eventual champions Hull Ionians and they nearly beat them.

“The DK’s didn’t have a particularly strong side out at the time and that included a number of youngsters, but everything was engineered by Jon.

“I been trying to get him to play for Stourbridge since the summer, to the point where I’ve almost bullied him into joining us. I think I just eventually wore him down!

Both players have already trained with Stourbridge ahead of the clash with Bees, although Dipple is likely to start at fly half.

Mitchell is under no illusions that a difficult game awaits, especially as Bees have shown great form this term, winning 32-17 at title rivals Macclesfield and then pushing fellow contenders Darlington Mowden Park all the way before losing out 21-8.

Bees also underlined themselves as a resolute side when they ground out a 7-5 success at Leicester Lions in their most recent game and Mitchell is well aware their tails will be up Mitchell confirmed:

“A number of people believe the game with Bees could prove a thorn in our side and a defeat would prove a real scalp for them.

“The top four sides have split away now and any teams below that, we have to look upon as a must-win game. There’s no reason why we can’t deliver and I shall be looking for a complete performance”.

James Rodley returns to the fray following suspension and supporters are reminded the game at Bees will be a 2pm kick-off