Skipper Dave Slemen insists Esher will not be taking struggling Birmingham and Solihull lightly in Sunday’s showdown at Damson Park.

The Bees are rooted to the foot of the Championship after six straight defeats and have yet to pick up a bonus point.

In contrast, seventh-placed Esher ended a run of three successive defeats with a stunning derby triumph over high-flying London Welsh last Friday.

But Slemen warns Esher will come unstuck at Damson Park unless they show the same commitment that edged out Exiles in a 22-19 thriller.

He said: “Birmingham will fancy themselves against us, especially as home, and we will not be taking them lightly in any way.

“They may have lost all their games but they are not getting destroyed and are certainly not whipping boys.

“They have proven Championship players who will look at us and think this is their chance to turn things around and get the winning habit back.

“We must make sure that doesn’t happen and that we approach this game with the same mental attitude we did against London Welsh.

“It’s a different challenge being favourites but we had that all last year when we won promotion. It’s a tight league and we must try and push on and get up that table.”

Esher won a thriller in front of 2,000 fans at rain-sodden Molesey Road with London Welsh old boys Mike Whitehead and Sam Ulph kicking 17 points between them while Shawn Renwick went over for a try.

Slemen added: “There was this attitude that we would do anything to win this game – and that’s what we did. We were absolutely determined.

“It wasn’t pretty but we played reasonably intelligently given the conditions while perhaps London Welsh were guilty of trying to play too much rugby.

“We had called for a reaction after the defeat at Nottingham and that’s what we got. Sometimes it’s just a question of players raising their game by two or three per cent but that adds up to a lot.

“It was a great night and perhaps a realisation of what we can do at this level. We do feel that when we play our best rugby and are fully committed we can win games in the Championship.

“I think the guys have done fantastically well to win three out of our first six games because we have had a difficult start to the season.

“But it’s no good doing the right things for most of the game and then slipping off a few tackles at the end. We must show the same attitude in Birmingham.”