This evening Midlands Lionhearts take on Moscow City XIII at the Red Arrow Stadium in the first match of a two game tour.

On Sunday, in Vereya, they face a Russia Select and the hosts are very much looking forward to the encounters.

“Our players do not have too many games of that kind,” said Russia coach Vadim Fedchuk. “The matches will give us an opportunity to see some of our young players against strong counterparts. I hope they will show what we need to improve in our coming game versus Serbia in European Championship B.”

The Lionhearts are coached by Patrick Wilson (Northampton Demons) and Dean Thompson (Coventry Dragons) with the tour led by Doncaster assistant coach Chris Spurr.

“We had a terrific warm-up match recently against Midlands Premier champions Telford Raiders," said Doughty. “The guys mix really well as a team and push each other hard in training, so there is no lack of confidence.”

“Ten teams are represented, it’s a terrific experience out here and we are all now looking forward to the matches and putting on a good show for the region.”