KINGS Norton warmed up for this weekend's crucial league clash with Evesham by taking a week off.

The Hopwood side welcome the North Midlands One (South) leaders to Ash Lane on Saturday (ko 2.30pm) and coach Ian Jackson knows a win is vital to keep their own title hopes alive.

But Norton will be without two key players ahead of the table-topping contest.

Captain Matt Eagles and influential fly-half Ken Whitehouse will be missing from the line-up.

The pair have scored a number of vital points this season and Jackson will be looking at options ahead of the game.

"Our defence should not be the difficulty" he said. "But it is important to find the right blend in order to move the ball quickly into the strike areas."

Norton are currently third in the table, three points behind Evesham. Tenbury and Upton are also in contention and the latter head to Woodrush in another vital contest.