Romford & Gidea Park coach Paul Cook says this Saturday’s away game against Wanstead is a “must-win”.

Cook's side went down 27-26 to Ipswich on Saturday having suffered a huge 92-7 defeat to Southwold the week before.

They now take on a Wanstead side who are also struggling in the London Two North East and sit third from bottom, one place above Romford, having lost to Norwich in their last outing.

Cook insists the team is still developing but admits this weekend's game is a very important one.

"We have a very young back line that are still finding their feet at this level, we'll continue to develop and nurture them into a strong force in the future," he said.

"We travel to fellow strugglers Wanstead this Saturday for a must-win game.

"The game has extra spice because former Romford playing and coaching legend Mark Collins is their forwards guru.

"He's sure to have prepared his team well but we'll be working our backsides off to get a result."

Sam Coomber, Pete O'Brien, Alex Mance and Aiden Mersh all scored tries for Romford against Ipswich on Saturday.

Tom Medaglia scored two conversions but it proved not to be enough for victory as they suffered a one-point loss, meaning they have now been beaten in their last four games.

Cook admits it was a huge disappointment to lose by such a narrow margin but was proud of the response from his team.

He added: After our heavy defeat by Southwold the week before I asked the team for a response. I asked them to start fighting to avoid relegation.

"I'm proud to say that they absolutely gave me everything and it was heartbreaking to go down 27-26 when we had a kick at goal to win it.

"Our forwards were magnificent, Teddy Duke was especially outstanding, and certainly won us enough of the ball to get a result."

Meanwhile in the London Three Essex, Campion travel to Harlow looking to bounce back from a 34-24 defeat at home to Chelmsford in their last game.

The defeat was Campion's third in a row, leaving them seventh in the league table.

Harlow picked up a 31-14 win against Mavericks last time out and are third in the division having won six of their eight games.