Rugby returns to Mattioli Woods Welford Road on Friday night with the first of back-to-back pre-season weekends of action for Leicester Tigers fans.

The first opponents of the new campaign are Championship club Nottingham Rugby, while next Saturday (September 7) sees Welsh club Scarlets come to town.

A sweat-soaked Oval Park has seen the players go through a gruelling summer of hard work and a 30-man outfit will be looking to shake some of the rugby rust off and build momentum against The Archers.

Brett Deacon went through plenty of pre-season pain in his playing days. Now the former hard-edged forward is in charge of the Tigers pack having been promoted to the Forwards Coach role this season.

"The players have worked extremely hard," Deacon said.

"Pre-season is supposed to be hard, obviously, but the attitude and application from everyone has been outstanding. Now it's about taking that into a match situation, starting tomorrow (Friday) night."

Deacon was clear the coaching team wasn't focusing on the scoreboard against Notts, though he was clear the players would have specific target areas to hit in their time on the field. 

"We're more interested in the effort areas than anything else at the moment,” he explained.

“How hard the players are working on and off the ball, their communication, their willingness to compete in every aspect of the game; those are the things that we’re looking for.”

Check out the Game Plan to see what’s on offer at Mattioli Woods Welford Road Friday night, with turnstiles open from 6pm ahead of kick-off at 7:30pm.

Both pre-season matches are included as part of 24/25 Men's Season Tickets.