Bath still full of belief ahead of big Saints clash

Bath suffered last-gasp agony last weekend as Jamie Shillcock's penalty handed Leicester Tigers a 25-24 win at The Rec.

It was a first defeat of the league season for the table-topping West County outfit, who had claimed impressive wins against Newcastle Falcons and Saracens to start the campaign.

And Bath assistant coach Blackett said: "I don't think last week's game has taken any confidence away from the group. I think we just feel that we should be better in certain moments.

"The harder thing with the Premiership this year is there's 18 games. You cannot let a game go by. That's probably why we felt really frustrated after the game. It was a game we let go.

"You lose three, four, five on the bounce and you are out of the competition - it's not like the old Premiership where there were 24 games, 22 games.

"After this weekend, we're just under a quarter of the way through the season. We've got to grasp every opportunity."

Bath can now boast a top-level half-back pairing, with scrum-half Ben Spencer lining up alongside big summer signing Finn Russell.

Russell has already shown his class in the formative stages of the season, but Blackett knows there is much more to come from the Scotland star.

"Everyone's really enjoyed him coming in," Blackett told BBC Radio Bristol. "He's an outstanding professional, heavily driven and he's come in with a bang.

"I think with Finn, the more everyone gets used to him in the environment, he gets used to the environment. I think we're going to see more and more from him.

"But already there's been some big highlight moments and the relationship he's built with the team and the way he's at times driving the team has been very impressive from the start."