London Irish v Bristol: Teams

Bristol's bid to beat the drop continues on Saturday when they travel to the Madejski Stadium to take on London Irish.

Despite being anchored at the bottom of the Guinness Premiership table, Bristol's recent form has raised hopes they can still survive.

An excellent home win over Worcester last Sunday in front of the Sky Sports cameras means they are now nine points adrift of the Warriors.

Head coach Paul Hull insists that whilst the team had enjoyed a much deserved win, their focus had quickly shifted to facing the Exiles.

Long campaign

"We gave the players two days off in the week," he said. "It's been a long campaign so having a rest after a bruising encounter at the weekend is the right decision even if we'd have lost.

"We're now just trying to refocus the minds, enjoy the victory, but move on to the next fixture against London Irish.

"There's been a good spirit for the last couple of weeks and we're obviously really pleased to have got the win.

"I was really pleased with the six tries, although we could have potentially scored a few more, which we talked about. We needed to be a bit more clinical in certain areas of the pitch but ultimately we're really pleased."

Try-scoring favourite Lee Robinson remains in the team, with brothers Tom and Luke Arscott completing the back three.

The front row, made up of Mark Irish, Scott Linklater and Darren Crompton, is unchanged from last week's succes at the Memorial Ground.

Meanwhile, London Irish are able to select from a squad of 30 fit and available players for the contest.

The Exiles currently find themselves just outside the play-off places, though only two points seperate the top five in the table.

Peter Hewat has now recovered from injury and is named amongst the replacements.

Captain Catt

Mike Catt captains the team in the absence of Bob Casey who continues to make a good recovery from his recent arm injury.

"After 19 rounds of the most competitive league season on record, it's come down to the wire," said head coach Toby Booth.

"The important thing is that we are in control of our destiny and that's fantastic. Having put ourselves in a position where we're within sight of our goals, we still have it all to do.

"Bristol are fighting for their lives and know exactly what their future holds. They come to Madejski Stadium on the back of a six try victory last weekend and that will breed priceless confidence, which makes them dangerous opponents. Paul Hull has them playing well which is good news for him."

London Irish: 15 Delon Armitage, 14 Adam Thompstone, 13 Elvis Seveali'i, 12 Seilala Mapusua, 11 Sailosi Tagicakibau, 10 Mike Catt (capt), 9 Paul Hodgson, 8 Chris Hala'Ufia, 7 Steffon Armitage, 6 Declan Danaher, 5 James Hudson, 4 Nick Kennedy, 3 Richard Skuse, 2 David Paice, 1 Clarke Dermody.
Replacements: 16 Tonga Lea'aetoa, 17 Danie Coetzee, 18 Kieran Roche, 19 Richard Thorpe, 20 Peter Hewat, 21 Peter Richards, 22 Tom Homer.

Bristol: 15 Luke Arscott, 14 Lee Robinson, 13 Luke Eves, 12 Junior Fatialofa, 11 Tom Arscott, 10 Ed Barnes, 9 Haydn Thomas, 8 Dan Ward-Smith, 7 Joe El Abd, 6 Redford Pennycook, 5 Robert Sidoli, 4 Mariano Sambucetti, 3 Darren Crompton, 2 Scott Linklater, 1 Mark Irish.
Replacements: 16 Ollie Hayes, 17 Wayne Thompson, 18 Roy Winters, 19 Alfie To'oala, 20 Shaun Perry, 21 Greg Barden, 22 David Lemi.