Bears cannot complain as play-off task grows tougher

Bristol Bears have lost their past two games against Loughborough and Trailfinders

Bristol Bears head coach Dave Ward says they cannot complain if they miss out on a play-off spot as the team have had their "opportunities" this season.

The Bears are still fifth in the Premiership Women's Rugby table after an unexpected 31-22 defeat by Loughborough Lightning last Saturday, with just two games to go.

They remain in the fight for a top four spot but need other results to go their way to achieve it and face Exeter this weekend who are a place and two points above them also with a game in hand.

"It's down to us, we've had our opportunities, we've missed them," Ward told BBC Radio Bristol.

"Exeter have had their opportunities as well so it's going to be a huge game on Saturday and one we need to make sure we're ready for."

The visit of Exeter to Ashton Gate is Bristol's final home match this campaign before a trip to Harlequins on 14 February, with the club on a bye week during the final weekend of games a week later.

As well as the Loughborough loss the Bears were also narrowly beaten 39-38 by Trailfinders in the previous week.

"It [Loughborough] was a huge opportunity missed," Ward said

"You look at the stats and obviously stats are not always the key indicator but we had every stat in the world going for us apart from points scored. We created the chances the fact we didn't finish them again is a bit of the story of our season.

"The fact we've created the chances is a huge positive for us to hold onto."

The Bears were beaten in the final last season by Gloucester-Hartpury and were defeated semi-finalists the campaign before.

Ward said he wanted big performances from his team over the next two games, to put momentum on their side if they do reach the top four.

"I want us to play well, if we do get to the semi-finals I want us to get there flying rather than limping in," Ward said.

"You saw that in our first season, we limped into the semis and we got beaten by Exeter. Actually, we've got an opportunity against Exeter, against Quins to take a bit of form into the semis.

"We're still in a good place, I'd like us to be in a better place come Saturday four o'clock."