Head coach Andy Pratt says Canterbury's National 2 South destiny is in their own hands and will be decided by their performances within the friendly confines of Merton Lane.

In their first eight away games of the season, Canterbury have undertaken their seven longest trips of the season – including Saturday’s 25-15 defeat at Launceston in Cornwall – with the return just a single draw and seven losses.

By contrast, the city club have won four of their six home games and face a huge clash against Cambridge at home on Saturday (3pm), looking to overhaul their visitors – who sit a point above them – and consolidate in the safety of the mid-table pack.

Pratt said: “We have got all the long trips out of the way now. We didn’t pick up as many points as we would have liked and want to make up for that.

“I’m not one to target any particular games but we have a lot of home games coming up.

“We have three of our next four, and nine of the last 16 games at home. Through to February we have got some big games and hopefully we can take advantage of that run.

“Cambridge are a big club with a lot of National 1 experience and we have great respect for them.

“It’s going to be tough but we need to concentrate on our own game. How we do is going to be decided by how we perform rather than anything.”

He added: “We have looked at the figures. Most teams pick up the majority of their wins at home and tend to lose most away from home. That has proved the case for us.

“We have talked about our home form and what it is about playing at home.

“Our crowds have been growing over the past few seasons, the players appreciate playing in front of our support and it’s a nice pitch to play on, which helps.

“We have had inspiring performances and good memories – they are nice, familiar surroundings.”

Pratt hopes to have Alex Veale (ankle) available while he revealed he was impressed by Kiwi flanker Adam Cathcart’s start at Merton Lane.

He said: “He played well the other day and has settled in well on and off the field. He’s going to be an important player for us.

“He’s got a knock but hopefully he’ll be all right to start and our injury situation has stabilised a bit.”