Two seasons ago they had it in abundance, last year there was precious little and this campaign they can find it but can't hold on to it. Such is Pertemps Bees' battle to rediscover the mental fortitude that once made them the best semi-professional club in the land.

Bees drew with Sedgley Park last Saturday and, while it was a game they might have lost, according to Phil Maynard it was also one the should have won had they demonstrated sufficient psychological strength.

They had their chances to turn two points into four, although they drew level at 33-33 two minutes into added time Ben Harvey had another kickable effort to win the match.

They were leading 23-13 when wing Tom Beim was yellow-carded for not rolling away from the tackle area. By the time he returned they were trailing by seven points, having been dragged into a structureless pattern that suited the hosts. On such moments games are won, lost and in this case drawn.

Maynard wants his men to find the sort of cussed attitude that saw his side reach the semi-finals of the Powergen Cup and finish fourth in National One.

"We have got to get our mental resolve back," he said. "We have got to concentrate between the whistles all the time because there is nothing in between the teams in this league other than what's going on in the players' heads.

"But if your mind goes the other teams don't have to be supermen to get through you, that's the mental side between competing and not competing. We are a developing side and games like that just show that there is a lot of growing up to be done."

Bees were without suspended scrum-half Paul Knight and Maynard said that his absence was felt particularly in times of difficulty.

"We really missed him from a defensive perspective, he is the extra back-row forward that we have with the tackles he makes. By his own admission Ben Harvey does not bring that to our side - though he scored more points in one game than 'Knighter' has in three."

Meanwhile, Maynard will give a fitness test to back-row forward Guillaume Scheuller before they finalise their side to play Coventry at home on Saturday.

The Frenchman, a summer recruit from Orrell, scored a try against Sedgley Park before suffering a gashed eye that required eight stitches.

Will Matthews, another back-row forward, is likely to be in contention for selection having missed last weekend's game because of a dislocated thumb which he sustained playing for Gloucester in a Guinness A match last week.

Another youngster on loan from Kingsholm, Rob Elloway, will be available this week having served a twomatch suspension imposed by Gloucester for punching an opponent in the same fixture.

But Knight remains suspended following his sendingoff for stamping against London Welsh on September 17. He was banned for three matches by a club disciplinary panel and is expected to make a further appearance before an RFU committee.

Moseley's win at Waterloo took them top of National Two and prompted their head coach, Ian Smith, to laud his players' mental toughness.

The Billesley Common outfit-were dominated by their hosts and a swingeing penalty count for most of the second half but built a 20-point lead with two tries by Nathan Bressington, one by Paul Cox and a penalty try early in the period.

But in the closing stages, which went on for rather longer than they had expected, their line was breached twice in quick succession as Waterloo closed to 37-31. A game-saving tackle by Bressington preserved his side's unbeaten status.

Moseley had to defend continuously for virtually 40 minutes and Smith said: "We showed great character against a very, very strong and well-drilled team. Our defence carried us through and got us into a lead and from there our defensive system was outstanding. But it did taint my weekend a bit that they were able to get that many points on us. And, as far as creating our own pressure, we were a long way short of where we need to be."

Smith is still looking to bolster his pack with Bristol's Dan Howick expected to arrive on loan shortly. The 20-year-old will remain with Richard Hill's side until after the next two Powergen Cup matches but will then be allowed to develop at Moseley on a short-term basis.

Coventry have recruited 6ft 6in second-row forward Justin Reid from New Zealand. The Scotland under-21 international, in the Auckland High Performance Unit development squad, spent this summer in Australia with the Sunshine Coast Stingrays.

Head coach Mike Umaga is hoping to sign a scrum-half and possibly one more player after watching Coventry go down 31-29 at Doncaster.