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Thursday, November 20, 2008, 19:11
People will expect us to lose by a hatful, but we will certainly dig deep. And we know it is possible to go to Kingsholm and win, because we have done it before.
This is a tough game, but it is a game every player in our squad should – and will – be relishing.
When times get a bit tough, there is no better place to go than Gloucester. Their crowd love me – and I love them too!
Gloucester will be thinking this is a five-point banker tonight. It is our job to go up there, work hard and build on our weekend win over Northampton, a victory which was fully deserved.
We know it will be hard at Gloucester, but it is one of the great places to win. I have won there with Bath, Leeds and Bristol – and there are not too many feelings in domestic rugby to rival winning at Kingsholm.
On the playing side we have obviously been lifted by Shaun Perry coming back into the squad. He proved when he came on against Northampton just how important he can be for us.
I think he would probably agree he is not quite match fit yet, but it is certainly good to have him coming off the bench.
Away from the field, the players obviously read the papers and hear the rumours like everyone else, but there is one thing I want to make absolutely clear – and that is that we will always stick together.
Whether times are tough on or off the field, this group of Bristol players will always remain together.
Tonight's game at Gloucester is a massive shop window for our club – it is up to us to play our part in attracting new investors by going out and giving a good account of ourselves on TV.
You never know who could be watching tonight's game. Someone could see us out there giving everything against a side like Gloucester and think, 'I want to be involved in that'.
We all know what is going on, and that the club maybe isn't doing so well financially at the moment, and when they go public with the need for new investment then it is clear everything is not right.
We need more investment to bring in better players. Far too often we have ended up struggling at the wrong end of the table because we just don't have the players.
But Bristol is too big a club with too much history to go down or disappear. The players will not let that happen and nor will the current investors. They are still right behind the club and they will not let this club run into any serious trouble.
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