LYMM head coach Adam Fletcher admits the winter weather has taken its toll on his side and their efforts to keep pace at the top of the Northern Premier.

Runaway leaders Preston Grasshoppers are the visitors to Crouchley Lane on Saturday, the first of Lymm’s five remaining games this season.

They sit third in the table and hope to overhaul Hull to finish in second place, but Fletcher says that may require something special.

He also says the squad have had to “get creative” with their training methods as the weather has seriously hampered their time on the field.

“The wet weather has taken its toll. Training has been tough as we’ve hardly been on the pitch since New Year,” he said.

“We’ve had to think outside the box and get creative with what we do.

“Yoga, video analysis and spin sessions have worked well, but you can’t beat being out on the pitch.

“Winter naturally slows the game down. We’re a small, relatively light team that base our game on tempo and quick ball.

“Obviously the heavier grounds make it slightly harder to play that brand of rugby.

“We want to be the best we can. If that is good enough for the top two, excellent.

“Coaches and players are very ambitious. We have to win each game with a bonus point to stand any chance of realistically finishing second, starting with Preston Grasshoppers.”

Regardless of whether his side do enough to qualify for a promotion play-off, Fletcher says his side’s season has been “excellent.”

“We wanted to be challenging at the top of the table come the end of the season and that’s where we are,” he said.

“The highlights reel at the end of the season will be a good watch as most of our tries have been crackers.

“We’ve always said that if the squad keeps healthy we have a good chance of competing at the top of the league.”

Kick-off at Crouchley Lane on Saturday is at 3pm.