Bath ready for last eight

Bourgoin v Bath: Bath will try to put a Headingley horror show behind them tonight by clinching a place in this season's European…

Bourgoin v Bath: Bath will try to put a Headingley horror show behind them tonight by clinching a place in this season's European Cup quarter-finals.

The English club's enigmatic campaign currently means they are battling Premiership relegation, while also boasting an unbeaten European record.

Victory over Pool Five hosts Bourgoin would send the 1998 European champions through, give head coach Brian Ashton his first win since returning to the Recreation Ground and erase memories of last weekend's 25-14 defeat against strugglers Leeds.

The Leeds defeat left Bath just two points off the Premiership basement, and Ashton knows a vast improvement will be required at Stade Pierre Rajon.

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"We struggled to retain and control any sort of possession in the first half, and our kicking game put us under a massive amount of pressure," he said.

"We have addressed those problems off the field. The key now is to address them where it really counts."

Ashton has made several changes for the Bourgoin clash, but none more noticeable than switching England's Olly Barkley from centre to outhalf instead of Chris Malone. Elsewhere, prop David Flatman makes his first start of the season, and there are also call-ups for centre Tom Cheeseman, hooker Pieter Dixon and flanker Peter Short.

Bourgoin are still in mathematical contention for the quarter-finals, but Bath will be buoyed by three successive European Cup victories over them - 22-12, 23-17 and 39-12 - during the past 15 months.