Bristol boss Richard Hill has taken a leaf out of Wasps’ book in plotting a possible Guinness Premiership title play-off place.
The west country club’s 36-5 defeat against play-off rivals Saracens was their fourth successive league loss, but Hill rested several first-team regulars and made no apology for his selection policy.
He said: "Of our last four games, three have been in London against Harlequins, Wasps and Saracens, with the other one against London Irish.
"It was always going to be a tough period for us, and I’ve been trying out a few people.
"I thought we would get through it the best we could, and now we’ve got our next four games in Bristol – two at the Memorial Stadium and two at Ashton Gate.
"Next week [against bottom club Northampton], we will be able to bring back Mark Regan, Dave Hilton, Gareth Llewellyn, Roy Winters, Shaun Perry and David Lemi. They are all players who are nice and fresh.
"If we pick up two wins and a couple of bonus points, we will stay in the top four and be fresh for the play-offs, not out on our feet."
Wasps, league champions on three occasions via the play-off format, have proved masters of timing their run to perfection.
And Hill added: "We are trying to keep a bit in the tank and follow the Wasps example over recent years, whereas last season London Irish gave it everything to get into the play-offs and didn’t have much left against Leicester in the semi-final."
Saracens’ bonus point triumph put them fourth, level on points with Bristol and fifth-placed Wasps, who lost 16-13 against London Irish.
Saracens coach Richard Graham said: "We will probably have to win all four remaining games to make sure of the play-offs, but we’ve only lost two or three games in the last four months, so we have a lot of momentum and a lot of belief in our side."
Wasps-bound Riki Flutey kicked a late penalty to see Irish past Wasps at the Madejski Stadium, where a Premiership record crowd of 22,648 witnessed the action.
