AFTER what was a perfect November, Exeter Chiefs will be hoping to kick-off the festive period in the same vein with tomorrow's testing National League One trip to Doncaster.

Pete Drewett's in-form side accrued a 25-point maximum from their five league fixtures last month – a run which has helped haul the Devon club right onto the coat-tails of unbeaten league leaders Leeds Carnegie.

Just three points currently separate the division's top two and Drewett is keen for their pursuit of the table-topping Yorkshiremen to continue in earnest this weekend in the White Rose county itself.

On paper and according to the recent form book, Drewett's men should encounter few problems at the new-look Castle Park. Sadly, rugby games are not won this way and Exeter's director of rugby was understandably cautious ahead of this latest encounter.

"Doncaster are an outstanding side and they don't lose very often at home," warned Drewett yesterday. "They are very well coached by Lynn Howells and Justin Bishop and they've scored some really good tries this season, so we have got to prepare really well.

"It's a massive game for us and we know the importance of it, but we went up there last season and managed to get a result [25-17], so we know what is needed to get a result against them."

The Chiefs will head into tomorrow's tussle buoyed by another excellent performance against visiting Rotherham a week ago.

The Titans were cut down to size in a dazzling display from Drewett's side, the Chiefs eventually running out 76-21 victors and running in 11 tries in the process.

"The players deserve all the credit for what they did last week," added Drewett. "It was a fantastic display and capped what was a great November for all of us. To get 25 points out of a possible 25 is just great, but we know we can't afford to let our focus slip away. There are still things in our game that we need to work on and we've spoken about that again this week."

As is now the norm at Sandy Park, Drewett has again made changes to his winning formula with fly-half Gareth Steenson and centre Tom Bedford brought in for this latest match.

Steenson replaces Danny Gray, who drops to the bench, whilst Bedford comes in for the injured Mark Fatialofa.

On the bench, Fijian flyer Josh Drauniniu – fresh from making his debut for the England Sevens side during last week's IRB tournament in Dubai – fills the void vacated by Bedford.

Indeed, having someone of Drauniniu's ability on the sidelines again underlines the riches Drewett has available to him this season.

However, the Exeter boss is keen to have such talent and such competition for places within the ranks. He added: "The competition for places in the side and the competition in training is key. It's not only keeping everybody on their toes, but it's bringing the best out of all of us.

"Some of our training sessions recently have been as good as game situations, such is the desire of everyone to give it everything they've got."

Meanwhile, Chiefs officials have confirmed gates at Sandy Park have increased by 25 per cent in just the first seven home games of the season.

The pleasing figures do not include the sell-out for the Cornish Pirates game on December 27 and the expected full-house for the Plymouth Albion game on January 31.

This time last year, 24,948 people had come through the gates, including a sell-out for the match against Northampton Saints. This season has seen a cumulative crowd of 31,101 already.

Chiefs: S Marsden; N Sestaret, P McKenzie, T Bedford, M Jess; G Steenson, C Stuart-Smith; C Budgen, S Blythe, J Andress; L Stevenson, T Hayes; T Johnson, R Pugh, R Baxter (capt). Replacements: N Clark, B Sturgess, D Tuohy, C Slade, E Lewsey, D Gray, J Drauniniu.