TOPSY Ojo insists pressing the reset button is going to be essential for London Irish as they bid to consolidate their seat at the top table of English rugby this term.

Exiles were promoted back to the Aviva Premiership in May after just one season in the Championship, following their relegation at the end of the 2015-16 season.

Ojo, 32, is already a London Irish legend having been a one-club man since 2005, but admits helping to keep Nick Kennedy’s side up this year would be one of his finest accomplishments in the green jersey.

And while they swept away pretty much any side that crossed their path last term, Ojo knows first-hand that errors are punished twice as severely in the Aviva Premiership Rugby and is urging his teammates to put last year’s successes behind them – and to do it quickly.

“Pre-season’s been really good and I think the guys are just about ready now,” said Ojo, who was speaking on behalf of Land Rover, who this season will be celebrating its Testimonial Season; 10 years of the Land Rover Premiership Rugby Cup, the national series of grassroots rugby festivals for U11 and U12 teams.

“We’ve been building towards our first game for a while, and it’s really good to be back having set ourselves that goal last season of getting up.

“But we’ve had to reset our goals very quickly now because we know how competitive this league is; getting promoted was only step one.

“Step two now is having a good, solid campaign and building upon some of the work we did last season, as we can’t afford to make as many of the mistakes we made two years ago.

“Ultimately with the way this league is, if you make mistakes you concede tries and penalties, and that was our downfall the year we went down.

“We’ve worked on our discipline and our efficiency, to make sure that we are a much better team than we were.”

Director of rugby Nick Kennedy has made 11 new signings during the summer, bringing the likes of internationals Luke McLean, Gordon Reid, Napolioni Nalaga, Saia Fainga’a and Lasha Lomidze on board.

But the Exiles boss is hopeful that plenty of his younger starlets, such as 19-year-old Joe Cokanasiga, can also join the party.

He said: “At London Irish the academy train with the first-team squad the whole time, so we’ve still got 40 players from last year all together.

“We’re still building our game slowly but surely, and now we can sprinkle in these 11 new players too, so it’s not wholesale changes.

“We are hoping these guys can learn our ways quickly, and integrate into the squad and the culture here as soon as possible.

“Joe Cokanasiga is one that many people are looking out for after he was named in the England squad last summer.

“He got injured the day before he was due to go to Argentina which was a great shame for him not to get the opportunity, but he’s definitely one to look out for.

“He’s very big and fast, as Eddie Jones described him, extremely hard-working and represents everything London Irish is about.

“He works on his game before and after training in analysis, so with a work ethic like that he’s only going to get better and better.”

Land Rover is celebrating its ‘Testimonial Season’; ten years of the Land Rover Premiership Rugby Cup. The national series of grassroots rugby festivals is testament to Land Rover’s continued support of grassroots rugby through its ‘We Deal In Real’ campaign. Follow @LandRoverRugby #WeDealInReal