Andy Pratt admits ‘it’s not nice at the moment’ at struggling Canterbury Rugby Club but has backed his side’s class to eventually shine through and help them climb National 2 South.

Saturday’s 38-15 reverse at Redruth was a fourth straight loss and fifth in six games this season to leave them joint-second bottom – a far cry from their promotion push through the first few months of 2014.

Head coach Pratt, however, claimed: “There were some good signs, even though the scoreline doesn’t necessarily reflect that. Redruth are a very, very good side, they were much better than they were last year and they took their chances to score, while we failed to do.

“We were missing that edge, that is what we’re lacking at the moment – being ruthless when we get an opportunity.”

Canterbury’s wait for a first ever win in Cornwall goes on, while they remain winless away from Merton Lane this season, with Pratt admitting: “When the fixtures came out and you see we have four of our first six games away you know it’s going to be tough.

“It’s been a difficult start, but the only really disappointing result was against Bishop’s Stortford, because we’re very proud of our home record.

“It’s frustrating but I still maintain that you only really get a good sense of where you are in the table around Christmas. That might not even be the case this season because of our 16 games before Christmas nine are away from home.”

He added: “We are starting to lay the foundations though, we just need to convert the encouraging signs into points, both on the pitch and in terms of the table.

“It’s important that we keep going forward – we need to get our confidence and form back.”

Shelford visit Merton Lane on Saturday (3pm) and Pratt warned: “There’s always pressure. Shelford are a very capable team and they had a magnificent result at Clifton, coming back from a big deficit to win down there, which we didn’t manage. We have always found it difficult against them.

“It’s not nice at the moment, I don’t think we have lost as many as this in a row at any point since I have been here.

“It is all about us though now, I don’t care who we are playing, if we’re beaten by a better side then so be it. We need to get that edge back, if we can start to get that confidence back it will start to snowball.”