Bristol 'stronger' as Premiership returns says Lam

Centre James Williams is returning to Bristol's squad this weekend following injury

Bristol have come out of the Premiership break "stronger" says director of rugby Pat Lam, with a number of players nearing return from injury.

The Bears return to league action against Exeter at Ashton Gate on Saturday (17:30 GMT) second in the table, six points behind leaders Bath and five ahead of third-placed Gloucester.

Centre James Williams returns from a broken hand to start against the Chiefs, with England scrum-half Harry Randall straight back into the starting XV following the Six Nations and Ellis Genge on the bench.

"We started our season flying and then after that Leicester game a lot of our guys went down and a lot of guys went missing so we couldn't even do proper training, we'd just get to the game," Lam told BBC Radio Bristol.

"This last three weeks has got us back to training the way we want to train, without a game, and a lot of boys have come back from injury which is great, so the squad's stronger."

Fly-half AJ MacGinty is nearing a return from a knee injury that has ruled him out since the end of December, as is wing Gabriel Ibitoye who suffered a setback in his recovery from a leg injury, and versatile forward Joe Batley who fractured his leg in November.

"If you're looking at starters - or guys who are certainly pushing for starters - when you consider what we had after that Leicester game, to have AJ, Bats and Gabs not far away, we should be all good," Lam added.

Lam said it was "flattering" to be linked to the vacant Wales head coach role, but insisted his current focus was on winning a first Premiership title with the Bears.

After an injury-hit January before the eight-week break, the Bears have extended fly-half Harry Byrne's contract to the end of the season.

They take on the Chiefs and then travel to Gloucester away on 29 March, and while all of their nearest rivals return to European action in April, the Bears have another three-week break to focus solely on the league after being knocked out of the Champions Cup.

"We want to make sure to go into that run-in you can get all the way to a semi-final or final and have injuries. We've got to make sure we've got good cover in all the positions," Lam said.

"We're sitting in the front pole with Bath, it's in our control for us if we want to get to the finals."

Bristol's match against Exeter will be the first in the Premiership to see referee's decisions broadcast over a stadium public address system.

They have lost three of their past four league games against Exeter at Ashton Gate and despite the Chiefs struggling in ninth in the table, Lam said he wanted to write

"When we look back at the games where we haven't won we haven't imposed our game, we want to make sure we hit the ground running and what a great challenge for us," Lam said.