Mike Schmid wants Esher squad to prove their worth

Esher director of rugby Mike Schmid says his players must prove their worth before they are offered new deals.

Esher lead the National One league table by four points and have three games in hand over their nearest rivals, London Welsh.

Schmid told BBC Surrey: "There is still a lot to play for.

"There's a lot of guys that could make our squad still, based on some performances that they're going to put in, hopefully over the next few weeks."

The entire Esher squad is out of contract at the end of the season, and with the side looking destined to return to the second tier of national rugby after a controversial relegation last year, Schmid doesn't want to break the pack up.

"The good thing is when we did find ourselves in the relegation zone last year, we worked hard to really try and keep the core of the squad together. That's what I'm undertaking at the moment," he added.

"We know we've got a good core of guys that can go back up and compete very well at Championship level.

"We're trying to retain as many of those guys as we possibly can and enhance and improve in a few areas, and give us a bit more strength and depth that we're going to need to slog it out week in week out with the big boys."