Dean Ryan believes finishing top of the table will give Gloucester the perfect platform to launch their play-off assault.
Gloucester chief wants to enter play-offs on a winning note
Gloucester coach Dean Ryan believes finishing top of the Guinness Premiership table will give his side the perfect platform to launch their assault on the play-offs from.
Gloucester's 25-17 win over Wasps on Sunday ensured that they would take on Bath to see who will finish the regular season on top of the table.
Having beaten Wasps twice this season Ryan knows his side can perform in the big games - with the chance to enter the play-offs in pole a huge incentive.
He said: "It is important. We have a good record of finishing at the top.
"I want to try and maintain that next week but it is more important we get used to winning big games.
"Next week is an enormous game and whoever wins it will be at the top.
"We have double-banked Wasps in the league. They came into the game at Kingsholm on the back of five wins and we beat them. They came into this game on the back of eight wins and we beat them.
Better
"It shows we can compete at this level and we are in the play-offs. We have got to play in these type of games regularly and we will get better.
"We know we are a good side when we have the ball. But just because we won, it is not a guaranteed thing that we have matured.
"We have still got a lot of growing up to do. We still saw cracks today and on another day it might have been exploited."
The result meant Wasps slipped out of the top-four, however with two games left of their season captain Lawrence Dallaglio is defiant in his belief that his side will make the play-offs.
"We will make the play-offs, make no mistake about that," he said.
"Games like this are a wake-up call for the sort of players we have in this squad."
