CHESTER coach Jan Van Deventer has no intention of resting his key players ahead of their crunch clash with Canterbury.

With their National Division Two play-off final place already assured, Chester end their league campaign at Preston Grasshoppers on Saturday.

A fine season has seen Chester amass 104 points from their 29 league games to date, a record bettered only by newly-crowned champions Hull Ionians.

And Van Deventer insists his side need to sustain their positive momentum in Lancashire, just a week before they head to Kent to face the Division Two South runners-up.

“I don’t think that resting players ahead of the play-off final is the right move”, he said.

“You want all of the players raring to go, rather than heading into such a big game on the back of a two-week break between games.

“It’s all about positive momentum to take into the next game and we need to take a big performance into what will be this club’s biggest fixture for a long time.

“Canterbury away will be huge, but we need to put all of our focus into the Preston game and making sure our application and workrate are where they need to be for our final league match.”

The seventh-placed Grasshoppers head into the clash by their highest-scoring league victory of the season, a 51-34 success at South Leicester.

But the reverse fixture on the opening day of the season saw Chester record an all-action 48-37 success, with the home side running in six tries.

“They’ve had a very solid season and have the motivation of potentially forcing their way into the top five if they beat us”, added Van Deventer.

“We’ve set high standards this season and we’ll travel there looking to maintain them. Hopefully we’ll avoid any injuries and sign off with a win.”

Hull will round off their title-winning season at Sheffield Tigers, while third-placed Huddersfield go to Sedgley Park.

Relegated pair Macclesfield and South Leicester meet on the final day, with basement side Peterborough Lions heading to Wharfedale.

Tynedale entertain Hinckley, Leicester Lions host Stourbridge, while Fylde visit Otley.