I GUESS it is a good time to play Wasps when a lot of their star players are away at the World Cup.

But, that said, to regularly finish at the top end of the league you must have good strength in depth and they have still got plenty of quality players available.

They can call upon the likes of Danny Cipriani and Dom Waldouck in their back-line and they are class acts.

We have to carry on the form we showed at Sixways towards the end of last season when we won our last three games.

It has to be a tough place for teams to come to - we cannot afford it not to be.

We have to make Sixways into a real cauldron - our fans need to be vocal and get behind the team - and it has to be an uncomfortable place for the oppostion to play.

I want the crowd to be even more vocal and partizan than ever - hopefully our fans will be excited on Saturday and we are looking forward to playing in front of them again.

We have looked at many areas of our play at Bath and we are keen to improve our decision-making.

We plan to improve a lot for this weekend as we cannot afford to keep shipping 29 points.

We were under pressure at Bath but we have learnt lessons from that match and we are determined to put things right.

There are not huge problems for us to deal with - it is more a case of making some small adjustments to get everything right.

All the players have got a really clear understanding of what Mike Ruddock wants us to do, but it does take a little time for the new plans to bed in.

Also, it is crucial for this club that we continue to produce talented young players from the academy - that is the best way to improve our squad.

It is important that as well as strengthening the squad by bringing in quality players, that good youngsters are also coming through the ranks.

The academy is doing a great job at the moment - Chris Pennell and Tom Wood made the starting XV for the Bath game - but they are not the only ones. There are a lot of other young guys who are very close to the first team.

It is incredibly important that we get the first win of the season as soon as possible. The championship is not won or lost in the first few weeks of the season, but the teams who start off well are usually there or thereabouts come the end of the year.

A win on Saturday is crucial, but Wasps will have the same frame of mind as us. Hopefully, we can put on a really good performance and get a victory in front of our home fans.