HEAD coach Mike Ford insists it ‘makes sense’ for Bath to cap a season of huge improvement by clinching a piece of silverware tonight.

After narrowly missing out on a place in the Aviva Premiership play-offs and being ousted in the semi finals of the LV= Cup, Bath travel to Cardiff Arms Park tonight (8pm) for a last shot at clinching a trophy this season.

Ford said: “We’ll leave everything out on the pitch on Friday, that’s for certain. We’ve got no tomorrows or no week after. We’re promising ourselves and guaranteeing ourselves we’ll do that.

“For us, it’s about the season making sense “We’re in the 50th week and the boys have sacrificed a lot, training with bumps and bruises and missing their families.

“It makes sense for us, having the talent we’ve got in the squad, to win something.’’ Ford, pictured, hopes Bath will learn from their Aviva Premiership disappointment of two weeks ago, when Harlequins pipped them to a play-off spot.

“These big games bring a pressure and intensity that possibly isn’t there for a normal game. The team that copes and executes best under pressure will win.

“At times against Quins we didn have the ball and if that’s the case you are going to tire quicker. It’s crucial that we do everything right, control the ball for long periods.

“We need the vibe and physicality that we’ve had. Maybe at Quins, with it being a do or die game we didn’t quite think correctly under pressure so we need to bring that to the game as well.

“We’re preparing for the final to go to the final 10 or five minutes of the game. We think it’s going to be that close.

“We’re pretty confident that if we go out and do what we’ve done for 95 per cent of the season, we’re going to be there or thereabouts at the end.’’

Bath were yesterday waiting to see if hooker Eusebio Guinazu had sufficiently recovered from concussion sustained against Quins to take his place against Northampton, youngster Tom Dunn standing by with Rob Webber and Ross Batty injured.

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