Leeds Carnegie v Bath: Bath test worthy of 'big game' rating for Leeds

When they hosted Exeter in a pivotal game at the top of National One last Christmas it was regarded as merely another hurdle to overcome in the race to the Guinness Premiership.

When Back and Key took their Leeds team to Leicester, a place where the duo had plied their trade for nearly four decades between them, it was billed as 'just another game' by the coaching staff.

Prioritising one fixture over any other is simply not the policy of Back and Key as they strive to hammer into their squad the importance of putting 100 per cent into every game regardless of the opposition.

So when Back and one of his players acknowledge that today's game with Bath at Headingley is 'massive' it underlines just how crucial the fixture really is.

Put simply, Leeds can climb off the bottom of the Premiership table with victory.

If Bath win, and Gloucester, Sale and Worcester pick up points, Leeds could end the day seven points adrift of 11th place.

Their victory over Newcastle last weekend – only their second of the campaign – took on added significance when they returned to the dressing room at a freezing Kingston Park to learn Bath had beaten Gloucester and they had remained bottom.

"This is a massive game for us," said Leeds full-back Leigh Hinton. "They're at the bottom as well so it's a good old-fashioned eight-pointer.

"We are keen to get off the mark at Headingley and if we can take points off Bath as well as points for ourselves then that would be even better."

Head coach Back agreed: "We're desperate for a win but Bath will be exactly the same, so we've got to go up another notch.

"Other results last week brought that bottom six tighter together and more reachable. It's a massive game for both clubs, but it's not the end of the world because post that there's still half a season to play and still plenty of time for movement.

"If we can win this match, then potentially we can go off the bottom. If we are to lose, suddenly you can be seven or eight points adrift which brings its own pressure. But we've had to deal with that all season, so we have got to concentrate on our own performance and if we play as well as we can, then we know we can challenge anyone in this Premiership."

Leeds justified Back's belief with their shock triumph at Wasps in October and continued their progression with the win at Newcastle which was the fifth game in six in which they have put points on the board.

They also have pedigree in winning 'massive' games under Back and Key, whether the management duo reveal they are putting anything extra in or not.

Exeter and Nottingham were beaten home and away last year en route to the National One title and the win in Newcastle helped keep them in touch with their ambition of achieving Premiership safety.

"It was a relief afterwards and that just highlighted how important that game was," recalled Hinton. "It wasn't the best performance we have given all season but we won.

"We've played some good stuff in patches this season, probably anyone who has watched all our games will have seen that at Newcastle we played some good stuff, but the conditions weren't great and it was more a case of grinding it out.

"It was always going to take time to adapt to our new surroundings this season, if you look at any promoted team it's a tough jump up to the Guinness Premiership.

"We've found our feet now but that period is over and we've got to be hard on ourselves and make sure we push on.

"The Sale and Harlequins games were games we should have come out of with victories but we didn't. We learned in those games that if you don't perform for 80 minutes then you're susceptible to the likes of Danny Care and Charlie Hodgson who will punish you and that's exactly what they did.

"It's vital that we take the performance into Bath on the back of three straight wins."

Leeds go into the fixture on the back of a three-game winning streak.

Back said: "The players are in a good place, we've asked for that sacrifice and professionalism over Christmas and they've given it us.

"It was a good win at Newcastle but we've got to back it up with a win over Bath.

"We need to take it up a notch and that means being more clinical, being smarter, and managing the game better."