LIAM Middleton has made no attempt to play down the significance of Bristol's Championship play-off clash with London Welsh tomorrow – labelling it their "most critical" game of the season so far.
Middleton's men lead Welsh by one point at the top of Pool A after both teams won with bonus points on the opening weekend of the play-offs.
Victory for either side at the Memorial Stadium tomorrow would represent a significant step toward securing qualification for the semi- finals.
And the importance of tomorrow's game has certainly not been lost on head coach Middleton.
"A win this weekend would go a long way – I think the team that wins this game puts itself firmly in with a chance of competing at the top end of the pool," he said.
"It's the same situation for both teams – but you pick up two losses in the next two games and you could be out of the semi-finals before you know it. From that perspective, I think this game and the London Welsh away game will be critical matches in the season.
"I'd say this is the biggest game of our season to date. There have been big games – Cornish Pirates at home, Bedford at home, Leeds at home.
"They were all big games, but, in terms of what we've played so far, this is the most critical game."
Bristol have lost four of their last six meetings with London Welsh, including both of their fixtures in last season's play-offs.
Middleton's men, however, were 35-33 victors the last time Lyn Jones' side visited the Memorial Stadium, with Welsh beating Bristol 23-17 at Old Deer Park two months ago.
"Our record is not great against them," said Middleton. "We maybe had a 14-point lead over them in the league season, but it's now one point in the pool and their recent record against us is good.
"You would put us down as underdogs on that basis. I think it's going to be tight.
"I think we start games better now than earlier in the season, when we had to come from points down to beat them at the Mem.
"But if we don't start well on Sunday, we'll be in trouble. We're going to have to start well and get some momentum in the game. In both games against them this season, I don't think we found good performances."
Bristol will recall Josh Ovens to the blindside flanker role, even though he missed last weekend's 65-3 win at Doncaster after being recalled by parent club Bath at the last minute.
To accommodate Ovens' return to the side, skipper Iain Grieve will switch back to No 8, with Marco Mama continuing at openside flanker in the absence of James Merriman (knee) and Redford Pennycook (shoulder).
Bristol (from): J Goodridge, J Tovey, F Otto, L Eves, G Watkins, W Helu, T Roberts, M Jones, R Tipuna, T Slater; D Crompton, M Irish, R Lawrence, J Harris-Wright, R Johnston, J Hobson, W Thompson, G Townson, R Winters, J Ovens, M Mama, I Grieve (capt), D Montagu, H Vanderglas.
London Welsh: A Davies, J Ajuwa, J Lewis, H Tonga'uiha, N Scott; G Ross (capt), R Lewis; S Pittman, S Nelson, G Bateman, A Brown, M Corker, L Beach, M Denbee, E Jackson. Reps: D George, B Moss, J Tideswell, G Johnson, B Russell, J Winter-Moates, W Hurrell.
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