Whitten ready for Saracens test

Centre Ian Whitten believes Exeter Chiefs need to start churning the results out against the Aviva Premiership's top sides if they want to be considered serious challengers.

It has been a strong start to the season for the Devon outfit, with five wins from seven leaving them fourth in the current table.

However, their two losses this season have come against Leicester Tigers and Northampton Saints - the two sides who battled it out in the Aviva Premiership final last year.

Next up for the Chiefs is a home clash against league leaders Saracens before a trip to face Bath, who currently sit one place above them in third.

Their Westcountry rivals have the edge over them, thanks to a resounding 37-15 win last weekend in the LV= Cup. And keen to make sure that loss was not the sign of things to come, Whitten challenged his side to up their game in the coming weeks.

"We have not done very well against the so called top four sides this season. Our worst performances have come against them this year, like against Northampton Saints," said Whitten.

"We have had a bit of a talk this week about addressing that. We need to get a good strong start to the game and turn in a good performance.

"The challenge for us this year is to really push on and get something out of these games. We're entering into a really important stage with some tough games coming up.

"This is the start of a period of games this season which maybe did not go as well for us last year. We have got to make sure we maintain our focus, especially when the ground starts to soften.

"We have to be more consistent in our performances and produce our best stuff every week and get on a winning run together.

"It would be nice to close the gap on Saracens at the top but it's very early on in the season and we can't really think about where we will be in the table come the end of the season. We just have to make sure we are there or thereabouts."

Although not the result he would have wanted, last week's defeat to Bath at least provided Whitten with a little good news, in so far as it signalled his return from nearly a month out with a recent hamstring tear.

And after having to bide his time on the sidelines, the 26-year-old was eager to get back to his best.

"I was reasonably pleased with how I was playing before. It was a difficult game against Northampton, it did not go as well as I would have liked," he added. "But I felt like I was improving week in, week out. I thought I was in quite good form so it was frustrating getting injured.

"The boys have been playing very well the last few weeks and I've missed being a part of that. I came off the bench last week and it was nice to get 25 minutes or so under my belt. Hopefully I can get back involved now."