Wasps' Springbok flank Ashley Johnson believes his side can take the next step and win a game on the road against Exeter Chiefs this weekend.
Johnson grabbed a hat-trick in their victory over London Welsh last week, but the 28-year-old believes it is crucial his side claim their first away victory of the season at Sandy Park if they are to stay in the hunt for a top-six finish this year.
"With the Premiership, we can take a lot of positive from the Welsh performance but you can never take things for granted as one loss puts you right back down the table," he added.
"Our away form has not been good enough this year but it's just the small details sometimes – I'm sure we'll be a match for any team away if we play to our full potential.
"For us a realistic challenge is to qualify for Europe again by making that top six so we want to achieve nothing less than that otherwise it would be a disappointing season," he explained.
Wasps' back row may have been at their marauding best against London Welsh, but Johnson insists it is the front five that deserve the plaudits for the club's impressive performances this season.
The triumph over London Welsh made it back-to-back Premiership victories for Wasps after their pack also exerted their dominance over Bath, even though James Gaskell was the only member of the tight five to start both games.
And Johnson believes it is this strength in depth that means he always has a secure platform to make his characteristic surges and is giving Wasps a fearsome pack to match their backline talents.
"It was really special to get a hat-trick but it was really down to the performance of the whole pack because they set me up for each of the tries," he said.
"I love playing with James Haskell and Nathan Hughes. James does so much unseen work, he's a pleasure to play with and Nathan has just been immense since joining.
"But the only time we can really dominate is when the front five are on their game. We can try to make an impact without the ball but you are only as good as your front five.
"In the past two seasons that's an area they have worked really hard to change the impression other teams have of our front five.
"We're still a work in progress but we all try to get those guys up and ready because they make such a difference at scrum time and throughout the game," he added.
All the Premiership match details:
Friday, November 21
Harlequins v Sale Sharks
(Twickenham Stoop – Kick-off: 19.45; 19.45 GMT)
Teams:
Harlequins: 15 Ross Chisholm, 14 Charlie Walker, 13 Matt Hopper, 12 Tom Casson, 11 Ollie Lindsay-Hague, 10 Nick Evans, 9 Karl Dickson, 8 Nick Easter (captain), 7 Luke Wallace, 6 Joe Trayfoot, 5 George Robson, 4 Charlie Matthews, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Dave Ward, 1 Mark Lambert.
Replacements: 16 Rob Buchanan, 17 Darryl Marfo, 18 Will Collier, 19 Sam Twomey, 20 Jack Clifford, 21 Danny Care, 22 Tim Swiel, 23 Jordan Turner-Hall.
Sale Sharks: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Tom Brady, 13 Mark Jennings, 12 Sammy Tuitupou, 11 Tom Arscott, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Will Cliff, 8 Josh Beaumont, 7 David Seymour, 6 Daniel Braid, 5 Michael Paterson, 4 Jonathan Mills, 3 Vadim Cobilas, 2 Marc Jones, 1 Eifion Lewis-Roberts.
Replacements: 16 Cameron Neild, 17 James Flynn, 18 Ross Harrison, 19 Magnus Lund, 20 Mark Easter, 21 Nathan Fowles, 22 Nick McLeod, 23 Andy Forsyth.
Referee: Thomas Foley
Assistant referees: Andrew Pearce, Nigel Carrick
TMO: Roy Maybank
Newcastle Falcons v Gloucester
(Kingston Park – Kick-off: 20.00; 20.00 GMT)
Teams:
Newcastle Falcons: 15 Alex Tait, 14 Sinoti Sinoti, 13 Gonzalo Tiesi, 12 Juan Pablo Socino, 11 Alesana Tuilagi, 10 Rory Clegg, 9 Mike Blair, 8 Ally Hogg (captain), 7 Andy Saull, 6 Mark Wilson, 5 Dom Barrow, 4 Calum Green, 3 Oliver Tomaszczyk, 2 Scott Lawson, 1 Rob Vickers.
Replacements: 16 George McGuigan, 17 Alex Rogers 18 Scott Wilson 19 Sean Robinson 20 Chris York 21 Warren Fury 22 Adam Powell 23 Simon Hammersley.
Gloucester: 15 Steve McColl, 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 Billy Meakes, 12 Mark Atkinson, 11 Henry Purdy, 10 Billy Burns, 9 Dan Robson, 8 Ross Moriarty, 7 Matt Kvesic (captain), 6 Tom Savage, 5 James Hudson, 4 Tom Palmer, 3 John Afoa, 2 Darren Dawidiuk, 1 Yann Thomas.
Replacements: 16 Luke Cole, 17 James Gibbons, 18 Shaun Knight, 19 Elliott Stooke, 20 Gareth Evans, 21 Callum Braley, 22 Aled Thomas, 23 Tom Isaacs.
Referee: Tim Wigglesworth
Assistant referees: Ashley Rowden, Andy Watson
TMO: Trevor Fisher
Saturday, November 22
Exeter Chiefs v Wasps
(Sandy Park – Kick-off: 15.00; 15.00 GMT)
Teams:
Exeter Chiefs: 15 Phil Dollman, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Sam Hill, 11 Matt Jess, 10 Gareth Steenson, 9 Will Chudley, 8 Thomas Waldrom, 7 Don Armand, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Damian Welch, 4 Dean Mumm (captain), 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Carl Rimmer.
Replacements: 16 Greg Bateman, 17 Ben Moon, 18 Moray Low, 19 Ryan Caldwell, 20 Kai Horstmann, 21 Haydn Thomas, 22 Ian Whitten, 23 Byron McGuigan.
Wasps: 15 Rob Miller, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Elliot Daly, 12 Chris Bell (captain), 11 Sailosi Tagicakibau, 10 Andy Goode, 9 Joe Simpson, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 Sam Jones, 6 Ashley Johnson, 5 James Gaskell, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Edd Shervington, 1 Simon McIntyre.
Replacements: 16 Tom Lindsay, 17 John Yapp, 18 Jake Cooper-Woolley 19 Kearnan Myall, 20 Guy Thompson, 21 Charlie Davies, 22 Alex Lozowski, 23 Tom Varndell.
Referee: Tim Wigglesworth
Assistant referees: Ashley Rowden, Andy Watson
TMO: Trevor Fisher
London Irish v Bath
(Madejski Stadium – Kick-off: 15.00; 15.00)
Teams:
London Irish: 15 Andrew Fenby, 14 Topsy Ojo, 13 Fergus Mulchrone, 12 Shane Geraghty, 11 Alex Lewington, 10 Chris Noakes, 9 Scott Steele, 8 Tom Guest, 7 Conor Gilsenan, 6 Luke Narraway, 5 Sean Cox, 4 George Skivington, 3 Halani Aulika, 2 David Paice, 1 Tom Court.
Replacements: 16 Jimmy Stevens, 17 Matt Parr, 18 Leo Halavatau, 19 Dave Lyons, 20 Ollie Curry, 21 Darren Allinson, 22 Eoin Griffin, 23 James Short.
Bath: 15 Luke Arscott, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Kyle Eastmond, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 Gavin Henson, 9 Micky Young, 8 Leroy Houston, 7 David Sisi, 6 Matt Garvey, 5 Dominic Day, 4 Stuart Hooper, 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Ross Batty, 1 Nathan Catt.
Replacements: 16 Tom Dunn, 17 Nick Auterac, 18 Kane Palma-Newport, 19 Charlie Ewels, 20 Carl Fearns, 21 Chris Cook, 22 Ollie Devoto, 23 Olly Woodburn.
Referee: Andrew Small
Assistant referees: Peter Huckle, Roy Maybank
TMO: Keith Lewis
Sunday, November 23
Saracens v Northampton Saints
(Allianz Park – Kick-ff: 13.00; 13.00 GMT)
Teams:
Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Nick Tompkins, 12 Chris Wyles, 11 David Strettle, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Billy Vunipola 7 Will Fraser, 6 Jackson Wray, 5 Alistair Hargreaves, 4 Jim Hamilton, 3 Juan Figallo, 2 Jamie George, 1 Rhys Gill.
Replacements: 16 Brett Sharman, 17 Richard Barrington, 18 James Johnston, 19 Maro Itoje, 20 Jacques Burger, 21 Ernst Joubert, 22 Neil de Kock, 23 Ben Ransom.
Northampton Saints: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Jamie Elliott, 13 Tom Stephenson, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 James Wilson, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Lee Dickson, 8 Samu Manoa, 7 Phil Dowson (captain), 6 Calum Clark, 5 Christian Day, 4 James Craig, 3 Salesi Ma'afu, 2 Mike Haywood, 1 Alex Waller.
Replacements: 16 Ross Mcmillan, 17 Ethan Waller, 18 Gareth Denman, 19 Teimana Harrison, 20 Ben Nutley, 21 Joel Hodgson, 22 Dom Waldouck, 23 Howard Packman.
Referee: Matthew Carley
Assistant referees: Gareth Copsey, Ross Campbell
TMO: Graham Hughes
London Welsh v Leicester Tigers
(Kassam Stadium – Kick-off: 15.15; 15.15 GMT)
Teams:
London Welsh: 15 Seb Jewell, 14 Seb Stegmann, 13 Nic Reynolds, 12 Tom May (captain), 11 Nick Scott, 10 Gordon Ross, 9 Rob Lewis, 8 Opeti Fonua, 7 Lachlan McCaffrey, 6 Peter Browne, 5 James Down, 4 Matt Corker, 3 Taione Vea, 2 Nathan Vella, 1 Ricky Reeves.
Replacements: 16 Koree Britton, 17 Nathan Tevett, 18 Ben Cooper, 19 Dean Schofield, 20 Ben Pienaar, 21 Paul Rowley, 22 Will Robinson, 23 Elliot Kear.
Leicester Tigers: 15 Tommy Bell, 14 Blaine Scully, 13 Matt Smith, 12 Anthony Allen, 11 Adam Thompstone, 10 Freddie Burns, 9 David Mele, 8 Jordan Crane, 7 Julian Salvi, 6 Jamie Gibson, 5 Graham Kitchener, 4 Brad Thorn (captain), 3 Dan Cole, 2 Harry Thacker, 1 Michele Rizzo.
Replacements: 16 Jake Farnworth, 17 Tom Bristow, 18 Fraser Balmain, 19 Robert Barbieri, 20 Laurence Pearce, 21 Sam Harrison, 22 Owen Williams, 23 Mathew Tait.
Referee: Dean Richards
Assistant referees: Gordon Goodliffe, Simon Mcconnell
TMO: David Grashoff
