NORTH Midlands will be without four front-line forwards for their crunch County Championship Bill Beaumont Cup match against Cheshire at Macclesfield on Saturday (3pm).
Number eight and captain Mark Evans, openside flanker Tom McIntosh, hooker Dean Bick and loosehead prop Paul Coles are all away on a stag weekend for a Moseley team-mate.
Their absence means North Midlands will need to replace half their pack for a game that they must win to avoid being relegated to the County Championship Shield next season.
Cheshire have also lost both of their games in the north group and the losers at Macclesfield will go down.
North Midlands expect to welcome back Pertemps Bees lock Alex Davidson from a foot injury for his first game of the season.
Davidson, a former North Midlands Under 21 player, has yet to feature in the competition but he hopes to pass a fitness test to press his claims for inclusion in the England Counties XV squad for their summer tour to Russia.
Davidson's Pertemps Bees club-mate Adam Billig, the former England Schools utility back, might also be available for selection.
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