Day calls for cool heads

Bath will move from fifth to second if they beat Recreation Ground visitors Sale Sharks on Friday night.

And that would serve as a welcome boost following successive defeats against Saracens, Northampton and Exeter. Only bottom club London Welsh have collected less points than Bath during the last six rounds of Premiership action.

"We have had quite a bit of disruption with players going out on international duty and a couple of injuries," Bath lock Day said.

"But we can't turn that into an excuse because we pride ourselves on having a good squad that can handle people being out of the team.

"We have to adapt a bit with our game and make sure that we aren't making the same mistakes twice.

"But we can't panic, and we have to make sure that we believe in what we are doing and get back on track.

"It has obviously been a bad few rounds in terms of results, but it's a weird feeling because the mood in the camp is still really good.

"We are confident in our ability and the game we are playing, so we will be happy to get out there on Friday and get the win.

"It (losing three in a row) is something we want to rectify, and I think you have to take into account the teams that we have come up against.

"It is hard to pinpoint where we have gone wrong, and maybe on another day with a different roll of the ball we wouldn't have lost three on the bounce."

Bath boss Mike Ford has made a handful of changes from the side beaten by Exeter five days ago, including opportunities for scrum-half Chris Cook and prop Henry Thomas, while Carl Fearns moves to number eight and Matt Garvey returns at blindside flanker. Sam Burgess and Kyle Eastmond, meanwhile, are again the midfield combination.

Sale are just four points and two places behind Bath in seventh spot, and they will travel south knowing that victory has been secured on two of their last three Recreation Ground trips.

The Sharks are boosted by England international Danny Cipriani returning at fly-half, while two other changes from the side beaten by Leicester last time out see starts for hooker Tommy Taylor and flanker David Seymour.

"The league is tight this year, so with one win you can jump up a few places," Sale wing Tom Arscott said.

"We only need to worry about ourselves, and hopefully results might go our way one weekend and we will be able to push ourselves up the table a little. But to do that, we have to win our games first."