A Herbert Smith Freehills HKCC side that showed vast improvement in a one-point loss to Societe Generale Valley on Saturday must front up again this week against competition leaders Borrelli Walsh USRC Tigers in the Old Mutual International Men’s Premiership game of the week.

That clash is scheduled for 7.30pm on Thursday at So Kon Po, while Natixis HKFC and Bloomberg HK Scottish clash at Football Club at the same time and Valley tackle Kowloon (King’s Park, 7:45pm) on Friday.

Games are being played midweek because of Saturday’s Natixis Cup between Racing 92 and the Cell C Sharks at Aberdeen, which is also the reason the Cricketers’ home match has been moved from Aberdeen to So Kon Po.

After pushing Valley all the way, HKCC coach Brett Wilkinson is ensuring his players stay focussed on the immediate job at hand.

“It was a big improvement. We’re still battling injury numbers but the guys fronted up so it was good,” he said.

“Our defence is something we’ve been working on week on week. We have been getting caught in the outside channels and it just takes one person to make a mistake or shoot in, but we stuck to the script on the weekend, which was good to see, and it paid dividends.

“I’ve said to the players in terms of the rest of the season, let’s not worry about results, let’s just win the mini-battles across the field and go back to processes and try and build a bit of momentum and form.”

Scottish are out to make amends for the 35-0 loss HKFC handed them in their last meeting.

“Football Club are on fire at the moment and they’ve got players galore, they’re playing some really nice footy,” Scottish coach Craig Hammond said.

“What we do in this short week is not going to change what we do on the field, we just have to make sure the guys are mentally refreshed.

“By this point of the season we should know what we are doing attacking wise and defensively and it will just be the attitude and the mindset.

“The last time we played Football Club they dusted us up and we didn’t fire a shot, so our challenge is to try and nullify some of their attack with our good defence and score some tries against them. We’re looking forward to it.”

Valley haven’t been themselves in recent weeks because of a spate of injuries but are still largely getting the job done; however, they are now relying on Tigers to drop points if they are going to have any chance of winning the league championship.

With the table taking shape and a number of teams unlikely to shift from their current positions, the race between HKFC and Valley for second spot – provided Tigers continue their winning streak – ensures neither team can afford a slip up.

The top two get a week’s rest in the first week of the grand championship play-offs, something that will be invaluable as injuries mount.

For Valley, forwards Dayne Jans, Ben Higgins and Toby Fenn and playmaker Matt Rosslee are among those unlikely to front up against Kowloon on Friday night.

“We have had a fair bit of disruption in our starting 15 with injuries,” Valley boss Andrew Kelly said.

“We have just got to look after a few bodies with the short turnaround and we just have to prepare the best we can for Kowloon.

“They are a good team who maybe haven’t had the right results recently, but I think they are still very dangerous with dangerous individuals in the pack and in the backs so we are going to have to be at our best to beat them.

“We are slowly trying to build away in the background and make sure we get the structures we want in place and build from there.”