The Kent side beat Jordan Reynolds’ men home and away last season, so with that in mind and having suffered two successive defeats in National Three London and South East, the head coach is delighted to be able to welcome back Lewis Hillier for Saturday’s game.

The big lock, who is so important in the Raiders pack, has been sidelined since mid-February after picking up a rib injury, and in a further boost both Owen Thomas and Malcolm Barnes are in the squad.

Hillier’s return should also have a positive effect on the Raiders lineout which was disappointing against promotion-chasing Tonbridge Juddians. ‘We had seven or eight line-outs and won just one, so we gifted Tonbridge a lot of ball and, to be fair, they scored two tries that were not defendable. But generally we played fantastically well last week and I feel we have a stronger side out this week, so if it is dry, we will be going in with the same mindset because that was exciting rugby for us and we really enjoyed it.’

Back on the wing this weekend is Edinburgh University student Anthony Armstrong, the elder of the two brothers. Anthony is fast and rangy and it will be interesting to see how he fares after a winter away in Scotland.

As for Gravesend, they are struggling this season and lost 35-18 defeat to Raiders when they met in December.

The match kicks off at 2.30pm.

Raiders team:
Cameron Craine, Tom Ceillam, Layton Batiste, Lewis Hillier, Nick Merrien, Dale Martin, Eamon Chapman, Matt Thomas; Adam Nixon, Owen Thomas, Blair Campbell, Glen Walters, Malcolm Barnes, Anthony Armstrong, Luke Sayer.

Replacements:
Nico Ashplant, Tom Malagodi, Ben Challinor.