TIGERS away is probably the toughest game of the year in terms of the side they have got and the venue -- and it won't be any different tomorrow.

We proved that we could beat them at Sixways in November but Leicester on their own ground is a different scenario to them playing on the road.

They have got an incredible record at Welford Road and very few teams win there. Mentally as much as anything, it's a very big battle for us to win. We have got to get it in our heads and focus on the task in hand.

Similarly though, it would be wonderful to go to Leicester and get a result. It's a great challenge and I think that this group we've got here likes a challenge and responds well to it.

Leicester have a huge amount of quality in their team and it's hard to find a weak point.

First and foremost, we've got to put a lot of pressure on them and, as much you can, you've got to be more enthusiastic.

I've played alongside some of their players for England and the likes of Lewis Moody and Martin Corry are just good players and hard, uncompromising people.

And they have got an awful lot of those at Leicester. That's what makes them such a good side and that's what makes them so difficult to beat.

It isn't time to start panicking. We know we have got to get some results and we know that we have got two very, very difficult games coming up in Leicester away and Leeds away.

The defeat to Sale at the weekend was massively disappointing. You know it is going to be hard when you play Sale because they are in the habit of winning, which is difficult to break. We are not very proud of the fashion in which we played and we let some pretty sloppy tries in.

We missed an awful lot of tackles, which normally we wouldn't miss. We dropped off guys, we played into their hands and we put ourselves under pressure. There were two or three things that didn't help us.

But it's not a train crash. We also scored a few good tries and we did some good things.

It's important that the big players play well. I think that Andy Gomarsall is really starting to find some form and he's playing pretty well, which is good, and Drahmy gets better every week.

All we've got to do now is bring a bit of edge back to it now. Our systems are good, we know what we are taught, what we are told to do and what we are coached to do is right and we've got total confidence in it. It's just a question of doing that and being fully committed for 80 minutes. Hopefully, that will be enough to beat Leicester tomorrow night.

In terms of my own fitness, my back is getting better much quicker than it was the last time, which is encouraging and keeping me much happier.

I'm just doing weights at the moment. I'm starting to get a little more active and hopefully in the next few days I will be able to do a little bit of cycling and a little bit of jogging.

I don't want to tempt fate by setting a comeback date because the minute I do, I put pressure on myself. I've got to make sure it's right. When I'm ready, I'm ready but I can't wait to be back!