Optimism, if not realism, continues to be in plentiful supply at Sharmans Cross Road as the campaign reaches its climax.

Bees face Plymouth at home on Saturday in their penultimate regular season match of what has been a dire inaugural Championship.

Indeed it will be the last time they will play a league match at their unloved home ground before the relegation play-offs begin next month.

And even though they continue to be battered from pillar to post, especially in the tight five, hope springs eternal in Solihull.

Among the most faithful is Leo Halavatau, the Tongan Tornado, who has answered his club’s call to arms by agreeing to switch positions from back row to tighthead.

The move, he insists, is entirely of his own volition and he claims he is fortunate to be at a club where his transition can be so lavishly indulged.

And for that he has promised to repay coaches Russell Earnshaw and Eugene Martin as they plot a route away from the trapdoor.

The 26-year-old is adamant it can be done. “It’s a big possibility, we are improving and our potential is very big,” he said.

“We have a lot to work on before the play-offs. Once we hit those goals we will be a different team.

“If we were 100 per now and still losing we could be pessimistic but we have a lot we can put into it.

“In the scrum there’s been a big improvement. What we struggled on before was working as a unit.

“We had a training session with Nigel Redman, that helped a lot. It was not about individual technique but about working together and it is one area we have improved a lot.

“I think by the play-offs we can get to the point where we can get parity. We are already getting to that stage.”

That will be a big factor against an Albion side who have their own relegation worries, indeed they are locked in a battle with Moseley just above the bottom four.

For their part Mose have the unpleasant task of facing promotion chasing Exeter at Sandy Park this weekend.

Ian Smith’s men need something from either of their final two games to stand a chance of dodging the relegation scrap but will find themselves hard pressed to take anything from a venue that has been more than a little unkind in recent years.

Stourbridge, meanwhile, need to kick-start their faltering season at home to Wharfedale.