BATH first team coach Neal Hatley is expecting a ‘titanic struggle’ when his side play host to league leaders Saracens this evening (7.45pm).

However, with the hope of securing European rugby with a top-six finish still a possibility, Hatley knows that they must perform in big games like this to ensure more of the same next season.

A 17-12 win away to Gloucester last Saturday has seen Bath pick up three wins in their last four outings and Hatley is hoping the confidence gained from that form will hold his side in good stead at the Rec tonight.

“We want to be involved in the Champions Cup and we think we are a big club that harbours big ambitions and we are well backed,” he said.

“With the squad we have put together this year, that maybe hasn’t performed as well as we would have liked, and the players who are turning up next year, we want to be involved in big games.

“(The win against Gloucester) was a very important win, first and foremost because it is a derby game.

“We were very disappointed with what happened at our place in February so to go down there and get a win against Gloucester was massive in the short term.

“In the context of the season a win against Newcastle and then to follow that up with another win away from home is important leading into a big game like Friday night.

“We feel we have turned that corner a few times after certain games but we are very realistic of where we are.

“We have one of the best teams in Europe coming to town on Friday night and it is going to be a Titanic struggle.

“They are probably favourites to do the double, in terms of the Champions Cup and the Premiership title, and the lads love being involved in these big games and are looking forward to it.

“We have put a little bit of form on the board and put some confidence back in the squad and that can only be good for moving forward.”

Semesa Rokoduguni, who scored two tries for the second game in a row, came in for particular praise from Hatley, who knows the wing will be a key player in the season run-in.

“He has been phenomenal,” he added.

“We have talked about him in the last few weeks about how good he has actually been and the finish for the last try I have never seen the likes of.

“He beat about five players and two of them he was going backwards.

“It is not just his finishing, that is what we have come to expect of him, it is the other bits.

“He has been hungry for work and has been massively important for us.”