NEW Ross High RFC coach Ross Watters is aiming to put an end to the away day blues in a bid to have his side fighting for promotion once again next season.

The Tranent side finished in the top half of East League Division One last season and will be looking to edge further up the table and challenge for promotion to the national leagues.

Watters takes over from Adam Hook, who has stepped aside due to other commitments.

The new head coach said: “I think the goal for me is to continue a lot of the good work that Adam has done over the past years.

“I’ve been assistant coach and forwards coach and now I am stepping up to the head coach role.

“It is continuing that work and consolidating that position.

“We are in East One and finished in fourth position – maybe we can better that.”

Ross High will go into the new season with a number of new faces, with players leaving and promising youngsters making the step up.

The head coach added: “We know we are losing a few as well as getting some in.

“It is going to be a bit of a challenge.

“We had a couple of players over from Australia last year – one of their dads had a tie with the club previously.

“We are losing them but we have got seven or eight of the under-18s coming up, who are pushing for selection.

“We have got a couple of guys returning from long-term injuries and travelling, so it evens itself out.”

Ross High finished the 2018/19 campaign with a balanced record of nine wins and nine defeats, with just three of the victories coming on the road.

Watters was keen to solve the away day problems, which, hopefully, will benefit them overall.

He told Courier Sport: “I think at home our form has been really good but it is the mentality away from home that we really need to improve.

“The guys that I am taking on coaching, they are a brilliant bunch of boys and work incredibly hard.

“The last couple of seasons myself and Adam have pushed for that workrate and put an emphasis on that.

“We are just looking to continue that for the coming season.”

Among their rivals for promotion next season are likely to be Haddington, who suffered relegation from National League Three.

The Neilson Park side will be looking to bounce back at the first time of asking and Watters was looking forward to taking on their East Lothian rivals.

He said: “Since I played or any of my friends played, I cannot remember being in the same league as Haddington, so it definitely adds a bit of spice as well.”

The club has also appointed Liam Law as player/backs coach.

Watters was looking forward to the pair working together and said: “Liam has had quite a lot of experience coaching the youth at Ross High and helping out with that sort of thing.

“He was one of the guys who came forward for the position and stood out to the committee.

“I’m not really sure if he is going to primarily coach or coach and play – we will see how it goes – but I’m sure he will play as and when required.”