Pat's want to return home from this upcoming game with their search for their first win of the season at an end, but they'll have to overcome a CYMS side who look like they're back to their best.

The Saints showed glimpses of promise in their latest game against Mudgee before a late try to the Dragons saw the Bathurst men suffer a heartbreaking 16-12 loss.

Even though the Saints haven't put on more than 12 points in a game in any of their three loses this season the focus across the group remains squarely on defence.

St Pat's coach Zac Merritt believes that the defensive workrate of his side will soon reap rewards in attack.

"We were struggling to find points but I thought defensively we were pretty solid. Obviously they scored right on the bell, which was disappointing, but we need to fix our attack up," he said.

"The main thing though is to keep defending well because we know down the track that points will eventually come. We're a new squad that's still linking up with each other and learning how we all play."

Combinations are still coming together for the new-look Saints team.

They looked to be at their most cohesive to date during the Dragons clash and the way they're progressing has the coach feeling positive.

"I thought the boys showed real quality against Mudgee. We caught them out a few times but unfortunately it didn't lead to points but we started making little inroads, which we hadn't done in the first two weeks," Merritt said.

"We've been making line breaks and had blokes pushing up with each other. It's the little things like that which we're learning. We're a team that's been struggling for the last four to five but we're getting around each other and getting those combinations linking in with each other."

Pat's face a CYMS side buoyed by a resounding 42-14 Orange derby win over Hawks.

The blue and whites have had an opportunity to see what CYMS could offer up during the pre-season and Merritt's expecting strong football from his Orange opponents.

"This should be a good clash. I know they'll be up for it because we knocked them off in the knockout," he said.

"But if you've got two ex-NRL players in your squad then you're pretty solid. We're doing our homework and hopefully we can turn up and give these guys a good game."

Robert Forest replaces the injured Jacob Ciccocioppo on the wing while Josh Belfanti makes his debut from the bench.

Mitch Squire shifts to five-eighth to cover for the injured Joey Coughlan.

Match kicks-off at 2.20pm.

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