Bath Rugby are targeting a handsome win in Italy as they seek to pin down a top seeding in the knockout stages of the Amlin Challenge Cup.
They are in pole position in Pool 4 after three consecutive bonus-point wins but know they must top their group by a greater margin than other pool winners if they are to be assured of a home quarter-.
The five Amlin pool winners are joined in the knockout stages by three high-scoring losing teams from the Heineken Cup and the seeding system means Bath cannot relent following their 67-11 win over Calvisano at the weekend.
Bath are the only side to have the maximum 15 championship points so far, although Stade Francais in Pool 5 and Worcester Warriors in Pool 2 are just one point behind.
Saturday's visit to Italy is followed by two testing Premiership clashes before the end of the year – against Saracens and Exeter – and inside centre Sam Vesty says the players are keen to impress this weekend on two levels.
"We've got this game that can give us a home quarter-, so it's obviously a big one, and then it's a massive game against Saracens," he said.
"Competition for places is huge and when you've got breaks in the Premiership it's an opportunity for fringe players to show what they can do."
Bath stuttered in the opening 40 minutes against Calvisano last weekend before finding their stride after the break and Vesty says their first-half "naivety" will need to be on.
"At half-time we got a couple of stern words, certainly," he said.
"They are a bunch of big, strong blokes who run hard and it took us a little while to wear them down.
"We were disappointed to concede the try and with some of our naivety but, once we'd worn them down, we played some good rugby."
Despite the return to Premiership action being nine days away, Bath are already seeking to identify cracks in what Saracens will bring to The Rec on Saturday week.
"While we are running through our plays now, looking at how we'll attack Calvisano, the coaches are working a week in advance," Vesty explained.
"They are looking at Sarries now and dropping little hints. A good win against Sarries, a win at Exeter and we'd be in a fantastic place at Christmas."
Forwards coach Neal Hatley said the squad know what is at stake over the coming three matches and are displaying no diminished intensity, despite the relative vulnerability of Calvisano.
"There are a big bank of games coming up and selection will be based on how people train and play, which is the big driver for the players moving forward," said Hatley.
"They went at it hammer and tongues on Tuesday in bad weather. We've done as much contact as we have done for a while, everyone is getting stuck in.
"If we come out of the pool stage ranked number one then we're talking about a home quarter-final and players want to be involved in opportunities like that."
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