Results are what count - Welch

Damian Welch admits Exeter Chiefs are learning all the time on another European adventure, but with the reigning champions Toulon in town this weekend the lock insists the result is what really counts.

Last year was the Chiefs' first in the Heineken Cup and they learned the hard way in a tough group that included both Leinster and Clermont Auvergne .

And this time around the Pool draw was no kinder to the Sandy Park outfit who host French powerhouses Toulon in the first of a home and away double header over the next fortnight.

But Welch, who has started all nine Aviva Premiership games so far this season for Rob Baxter's side, insists he and his teammates are itching to take on the world's best.

And in his case he is not short of heroes to go up against in the second row with Ali Williams and Bakkies Botha both now in the boiler room for Toulon .

However, that will not stop Welch from giving everything to a Chiefs side that he is confident are still very much on the rise.

"When we are focusing on qualifying for the Heineken Cup, these are the games you want to be playing in," said the 31-year-old. "We have learned a lot from our first season in Europe, it was a fantastic experience for us.

"There is no better game than the defending champions at home and we all cannot wait. You have to respect them, they are the defending champions after all, but we will go out there looking to take our game to them.

"Ali Williams and Bakkies Botha are two players I have admired and looked up to for a long time as a fan of the game so it will be great to go up against them. But we are going out there to win first and foremost, it's not a case of going out there and seeing what happens. We want to impose our game on them, get the pack rolling and get a result."

Exeter's clashes with the so-called 'big boys' of European rugby so far this season have been one of the few disappointments of another impressive campaign.

Narrow losing bonus-point defeats to both Saracens and Bath Rugby in the last two weeks have seen them fall out of the top four in the Aviva Premiership.

And Welch admits it is about time he and his teammates proved their worth in the big games, starting with Toulon.

"It is a bit frustrating," added the former Scarlet. "We feel that we deserved to win that game against Bath but the truth is a top four side would have gone out and won it, and that's what they did. We have to get to that level but it shows just how far we have come that we have got two losing bonus points against Sarries at home and Bath away and we feel disappointed. The top four in the league is our aim, in terms of our progression that is where we want to get to but until we start winning those big games we won't get there."