LUCTONIANS Head Coach Ryan Watkins is hoping for warmer weather and harder pitches as his side suffered a fourth straight defeat at the hands of Macclesfield.

Lucs suffered in the wintery and muddy conditions and found themselves 14-0 down by half-time. The second half continued in similar fashion with Luctonians struggling against the hosts' pack.

As the sun came out Ben Barkley ran over two tries as Luctonians camped in the opposition's 22 to bring the final score back to 24-10.

"The weather didn't help us at all and things didn't go our way playing into a blizzard," said Watkins.

"We conceded the points during the snow storm and as soon as it stopped we came out and scored two tries. If the ground hardens up and dries then that will help us.

"At the moment a heavy pack can push us about and we play much better in the spring. That has always been the case with Luctonians probably before I was even here.

"We will struggle against the bigger packs in the wet conditions. That is not why we are in this position but because we haven't taken our chances. I still think we will finish the year strongly and we have to make sure in the future that we rack up the points during the warmer month.

"It's still not mathematically impossible for us to stay up so we still have an opportunity and we have to try and step up."

This weekend Luctonians host their first home game in six weeks against Hinckley and Watkins' side will be looking for revenge following their 52-12 defeat in the reverse fixture.

"It seems a while since we've played at home and our pitch is in a good condition," added Watkins.

"We owe Hinckley as the away game was the lowest point of the year and I thought they were going to win the league but they have dropped off ."