Canterbury Rugby Club are hopeful of a major double fitness boost.

While the first team have a fixture-free Saturday, the 2nds - the Pilgrims - are expected to be in Kent 1 home action against Gillingham Anchorians. They could have two fit-again members of the first-team squad among their ranks.

No.8 Tyler Oliver (rib) is likely to be available while influential fly-half Frank Reynolds may be back, as well, having been out since pre-season due to concussion.

“There’s a possibility that Frank and Tyler will play this weekend for the Pilgrims,” confirmed head coach Matt Corker. “They have got to get through a full week of training.

“It’s, obviously, been a tough start to this season for both of them. It’s been a long time for Frank. It was a really unfortunate injury.

“His health has got to be the priority and we’re waiting to see whether everything is in order before we put him back in. Because of the extra time it’s taken him, we’re making sure we don’t rush him back into it.

“As for Tyler, it was quite a painful one but we think he’s pretty much back.”

The chance for the pair to prove their fitness will come before the first team return to National League 2 East matters at home to early strugglers Westcombe Park next weekend.

Corker said: “Having the opportunity to bring experience back into the squad at this stage of the season, that’s fantastic. But I think the players presently in those positions have done good jobs, as well.

“As a coaching team, we have got some tough decisions to make over the next couple of weeks - but that’s what you want.”

Canterbury headed into a two-week break after last weekend’s 34-32 loss at Barnes.

Home-grown hooker Lucas Eule bagged two tries while scrum-half Presley Farrance and No.8 Max McCormack also dotted down, but it wasn’t enough.

“We wanted to see a reaction to the previous week,” said Corker. “Even though we had beaten Leicester (34-31), we felt we weren’t dominant enough.

“For large parts of Saturday’s game, we were in control.

"Harry Sloan got a slightly unfortunate yellow card and, maybe, we felt slightly hard done by. In that spell, even though we had some good sets, we struggled to build momentum.

“When you give good teams like Barnes those chances, it just became a case of giving them one too many chances. We felt we’d given ourselves a good shot.

“We felt we needed to be physical and I think we were. But in those last 20 minutes, we needed that control - and we didn’t have it.

“Against a good team like Barnes, you’re going to come unstuck.”

Indeed, Barnes has been a land of lost opportunities for Canterbury in recent seasons and was to prove no different this time.

Corker said: “There’s styles of play that are harder to play against.

“Barnes are a very gritty team. That’s the sort of team we want to be.

"What separates teams is their ability to execute at the right time. Results are decided in the last 10 minutes of games so often.

“We have conceded too many tries in the last 10 minutes and it’s something we need to look at. I don’t feel it’s a concentration thing.

“Maybe, it’s just about playing in the right areas. Rugby union is a territorial game.

“When you give up territory, that’s when you’re most at risk of conceding quickly.”

Canterbury RFC's next opponents have taken only 10 points and claimed one win from their first seven fixtures, but Corker is refusing to underestimate them.

“Every game we have against Westcombe Park - with it being a local derby - is always an occasion,” he said.

“We won’t read too much into their league position because games against them are always competitive.”