Exeter Chiefs head coach Rob Baxter has prepared his players for what he describes as the "hardest fixture" of the season against Bath Rugby.
The Chiefs make the short trip to the Recreation Ground on the weekend in a clash between the Aviva Premiership's second- and third-placed sides.
Despite the tough test in store for the visitors, Baxter believes that his side are facing Bath at just the right time on the back of their 18-11 defeat at the hands of Sale Sharks last time out, which saw their eight-game winning run come to an end.
"Bath away is probably the hardest fixture this season," he is quoted as saying by the Exeter Express & Echo. "That's a great challenge for us and probably not a bad time to have that on the back of a loss because there's only one way to go – we have to go up there and fly into the game and see what happens.
"It's a tough place, not many teams go there and win now, they've established some real quality and it's something I hope we'll get really excited about. I'm looking forward to it already. That's the best thing about being in the Premiership, you go from game to game and move on.
"This is the best we've been at this stage of the season and we should be excited about that. I don't want the players to feel down about Sale, I want them to feel excited about where we are in the Premiership. We're pretty much at the halfway stage of the season now and we're going fine. We have to concentrate on those good things and not the odd mistake we make."
Northampton Saints currently lead the way in the Premiership table with 10 games of the season played.
Daniel Lewis
