Ford Confident Ahead Of Wasps Test

Despite sitting in unfamiliar territory, in ninth place in the Aviva Premiership, Bath Rugby take on Wasps for Sunday's European Champions Cup evening clash looking to turn their fortunes around.

First team coach Mike Ford has admitted the current run of form his side find themselves on was not what was expected at the beginning of the campaign, but insists positive signs remain when examined carefully.

Speaking to Total Sport and local media earlier in the week, Ford explained: "The Premiership I think has improved massively. Most teams have improved and they're tougher to beat each other, we're seeing that at the moment."

In recent weeks, Bath have fell short to both Leicester Tigers and Northampton Saints, two matches in which Ford believes could have gone much differently.

"If you take the last scrum out of the way we win the game against Northampton and it's a little bit different," Ford said.

"We find at the moment - playing against Northampton and Leicester - both them teams found a way to win and we didn't, and I think that is sometimes where as a team we are a bit naive.

"But even if we had won four and lost two, I would still be saying we need to improve because it's a tough competition," he added.

Sunday evening sees Bath Rugby travel to tthe Ricoh Arena for a mouth-watering European clash against Wasps. Ford insists, despite recent form, his side are ready for one of their biggest challenges of the season so far.

"We're looking forward to the Wasps game, they're playing really well and have recruited really well. We've played there already and lost, so we know that it is a big game for us. If we go there and get a result then we will be a little bit healthier in the Champions League competition," said a confident Ford.

Ford then revealed that his relationship with club owner Bruce Craig is as strong as ever, despite the current poor run of form.

"We meet every week and talk about issues, so he has a chance to get his points across if he's not happy, but also he understands that when sometimes things don't happen. Does he want to win every game? Do I want to win every game? Of course we do," said Ford.

"He hasn't set any targets or said 'you must do this', but we constantly talk and it's great, he's been unbelievably supportive.

"We set a high bar last year and we've not achieved that yet, but there are some positives there. I think the pressure comes from within, we want to put ourselves under pressure with the way we prepare every day here.

"Other people saying 'Bath should be here, Bath should be there, Bath should be scoring these tries', we can't control that, we can only control what we can do," Ford added.