HEAD coach Stefan Sankala believes that if Bedwas can get lucky with injuries this season then they can go toe-to-toe with Pontypool and Bargoed for the Championship title.

Sankala’s Bedwas side will look to continue their perfect start to the campaign tomorrow when fifth-placed Cardiff Met make the trip to Bridge Field (kick-off 2.30pm).

The hosts sit third in the Championship with six wins from six, leaving them 12 points behind leaders Pontypool with two games in hand.

Pooler entertain Maesteg Quins this weekend and second-placed Bargoed, who are nine points in front of Bedwas, go to Trebanos.

Like Bargoed, Bedwas are hoping to secure a return to the Premiership at the first time of asking following their relegation last season.

From their results so far, Sankala’s men look like they could well be in the mix for the title and the one promotion place.

But Sankala admits that with a smaller squad than their rivals, Bedwas will need to keep a clean bill of health for as much of the campaign as possible if they are to challenge.

“Pontypool and Bargoed’s depth of squad is massive,” he said. “They have both got lots of players to fall back on should they need them.

“If we can stay injury-free then we will be in with a shot of the title.

“It’s a tough season and it will become a bit of a slog as we go on, so we need all of our players to be fit for as long as possible.”

Having a 100 per cent record after half-a-dozen fixtures hasn’t surprised Sankala, whose men beat a stubborn Tata Steel outfit 44-20 last weekend.

“We’ve got a strong spine to our squad with new lads and developing youngsters around them,” he added.

“We’ve found that the new boys and the youngsters are raising their levels of performance because of the players around them.

“We’ve yet to play Pontypool and Bargoed but some of the other teams, like Narberth, have given us really tough games, and Cardiff Met will be another big challenge.

“They’ve suffered big back-to-back losses against Pontypool, but we’ve got to be focused and anything less than seven or eight out of 10 from everyone and we’ll be in trouble.”

Elsewhere, Cross Keys, just one point better off than basement boys Ystrad Rhondda, head west to seventh-placed Narberth.

Keys could only manage a losing bonus point against Neath last Saturday.