Nathan Catt is looking to cement his place as Bath's number one after impressing in the absence of Wales star Paul James.
The loosehead's performance in November's 28-5 victory over Wasps meant the experienced James had to settle for a place on the bench when he returned from international duty last weekend.
And with the mouthwatering prospect of a home date with Harlequins when the Aviva Premiership returns four days before Christmas, Catt hopes he has done enough to muscle his way into Bath's front row on a more permanent basis.
"It was a really good result against Exeter and it is always good to win the derby games as they tend to be great atmospheres and fairly frenzied affairs," said the 25-year-old.
"And it was also good for me on a personal level to get another start and I have just been enjoying playing and getting the game time while Paul has been away with Wales.
"Having Paul around has been great for me because he is very experienced and is always there to help me out and is a great guy too.
"But I just wanted to try and prove what I could do in his absence and challenge him for that tight head spot and hopefully the coaches have seen a bit more of me.
"I think competition for any place in a club is important and healthy and hopefully I have put my hand up to share the tight head responsibilities with Paul moving forward as we look to continue our good form."
Bath have not only won their last four Aviva Premiership games but are currently on a run of eight games unbeaten in all competitions ahead of tomorrow's trip to Mogliano in the Amlin Challenge Cup.
And Catt insists they will not be taking their foot off the pedal in Europe as they look to be a force to be reckoned with on all fronts.
"We don't know much about Mogliano to be honest which is kind of exciting but it just means we need to go out there and worry about ourselves and not think about what they might do," he added.
"And everyone is keen to maintain the good form we are on because it has built confidence and this is important moving forward.
"We talked at the start of the season about being competitive on all fronts, not just in the Premiership, as we felt we had the squad depth to do so.
"And so far you can see that we have managed it and everyone is chipping in so far and it has been a real team effort and long may that continue."
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