Veteran skipper Masataka Nashida has no illusions about the challenges facing the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles in his first year in charge, but he is a man with a plan and a positive attitude.

"This is a peculiar situation," he told Kyodo News as his team prepared to play its preseason finale in Yokohama on Monday. "It's pretty rare to see a team that is No. 1 in Japan one year and then finishes last the next two seasons.

"This is a team that wasn't as bad as its record last season, so some (improvement) will come from players just playing the way they are capable of doing."