BURTON travel to Malvern for their first experience of Level Five rugby tomorrow.

The Crofters make the trip to Worcestershire as they get their National Three Midlands campaign under way.

After winning the Midlands One West title last season, Burton coach Karl Ashfield is hoping to consolidate this time around and is aiming for a mid-table finish.

Ashfield wants to see his young side get to grips with the step up in quality and power but has not ruled out strengthening his squad should the need become apparent.

Burton got their season up and running with a 30-7 victory at Willenhall in the first round of the Staffordshire County Cup last weekend.

The Crofters were missing several key players due to injury and unavailability but still had too much for Willenhall at Bognop Road.

Ian Gilmour opened the scoring with a try that was converted by Tom Bartram but the hosts hit back to level with a converted score of their own.

In the second half, Bartram kicked two penalties, either side of tries converted by Dave Archer, as Burton sealed the win.

The game highlighted the shortage of experienced front row players in the Burton squad. Another fault that will hopefully be ironed out on the training pitch was the team's inability to let the ball do the work as players tried to force gaps where no gaps were present instead of passing and using greater work-rate to produce the chances.

Injuries to Rob Wakelin (calf) and Dan Eastwood (knee) are still a concern but the recovery of John Philliskirk and the availability of Charl Neethling do give the coach extra options.

The forward line-up sees Neethling step up from the bench to replace Tom Murphy, while Craig Dutton drops down to the bench with newcomer Dave Fitchett, who arrives from Derby, joining the back-row.

In the backs, Philliskirk returns from injury at full-back, Archer switches to centre from wing in place of Harry Titley and youngster Ben Marshall moves off the bench to replace Lee English on the wing.

Dutton is joined on the bench by ex-colt Nathan Taylor and another newcomer, Kelvin Browne, who excelled in last week's A team victory.