Baxter wary of Bath threat

Rob Baxter has warned of the dangers of Exeter Chiefs underestimating old rivals Bath at Sandy Park this Sunday (1pm).

Bath make the short journey from The Rec to Devon languishing in ninth spot, just 10 points clear of bottom-side London Irish.

But Mike Ford's men remain a formidable proposition on their day despite winning just one of their last eight matches, and their form on the road is actually stronger than their home record.

The Chiefs have won just one of 11 Premiership clashes against their nearest and dearest, who were also the last team to deny the Chiefs any points in a league match back in late 2014.

League position means Exeter will start the day as favourites, but Baxter is wary of the threat posed by Ford's underachieving side.

"I think, if anything, the fear factor is still a little bit with us. If you look at the record between the two sides it is still very much in Bath's favour – there's no escaping that," said the head coach. "I'd be disappointed if we took anything for granted.

"I would also be a little bit shocked if we were complacent because we understand it is a very important game.

"There's nothing for us to be complacent about. They are fighting for different things to us but so were London Irish and we had to be very strong in that game and we'll have to show the same qualities this week.

"Bath aren't struggling as much as London Irish and they were really tough at the weekend, so there's no way we should be taking anything for granted. There is still a lot in that team and a lot of individual good players. The meat of that team were still Premiership finalists last year."

Exe head into the match after staving off a third consecutive defeat at London Irish, edging out their hosts at the Madejski Stadium 22-15 in a real arm-wrestle of a contest.

Having suffered back-to-back defeats to champions Saracens and form team Sale, the significance of returning to winning ways was not lost on Baxter.

"If we want to stay at the top then we have to collect points – it's not rocket science and I can't dress it up in any other way," he said. "If you lose games you give other teams the opportunity to close up on you and put pressure on you. If you win games, you can keep a nice cushion around you and that creates opportunities to put other teams under pressure.

"It is still the teams that can consistently perform and improve and work hard that will do well at the end of the season. A consistent collection of points is what the season is about. We're only just over half way so there are still a hell of a lot of points out there."

Exeter's quest for points could be helped by the potential return of Dave Ewers, who has been out since November with a knee injury, although Baxter is understandably cautious about rushing him back.