Richmond director of rugby Geoff Richards has bemoaned his side’s injury curse that saw wingers Alastair Simmie and Jonny Wehbe limp out of Saturday’s 30-20 defeat to Southend.

The pair were hauled off inside 20 minutes of a game Richards’ men had started well, but the disruption to the back line eventually cost his side as the visitors sealed a comfortable win, despite tries from Luke Cousins, Tristan Wesley, and Guillaume Scheuller.

Recent wins over Henley Hawks and Canterbury have all-but dispelled fears of a National Division Two South relegation scrap and Richards believes his men can start looking up the table with confidence.

“We are making slow progress, but it is a tough league and every team you come up against is quality,” he said.

“We haven’t really clicked at all this year and haven’t been able to find the consistency with selection due to injuries.

“The injuries we picked up at the weekend were disruptive, but I would say we let in two soft tries and conceded three kickable penalties which were the ultimate reason we lost.

“We should be safe so it is case of looking up the table and continuing to work hard. We’ve lost a few players, but all teams do and we just have to deal with it.”

Simmie and Wehbe are likely to miss this weekend’s trip to Westcombe Park that will further ease fears of the drop.

“Jonny hurt his groin and the heavy ground isn’t helping some he is probably out for a couple of weeks, while we will have to wait and see regarding Alastair,” added Richards.

“We’ve played some good rugby in patches, but results have been a bit up and down. Hopefully that will work positively in our favour this weekend.”

Richmond’s list of current absentees: JONO FARMER, ALASTAIR SIMMIE, JONNY WEHBE, TOM NUTALL, TOM GREGORY, THEO MALTHOUSE, MEL DEANE, NICK ROSENSTOCK, JOE TRAYFOOT.

Richmond’s next three games: Feb 20 Westcombe Park (a), 27 Clifton (h), Mar 6 Barnes (a).