BATH head coach Mike Ford refused to be downhearted by a third successive Aviva Premiership defeat as Exeter Chiefs ended their nine-game wait for an Aviva Premiership victory over west country rivals Bath with a 16-6 win at Sandy Park on Saturday.

Fly-half Henry Slade, 21, was the Exeter hero, landing three penalties and converting the only try of the game from scrum-half Will Chudley in front of a sell-out crowd of 12,621 as the Devon side climbed to third place in the table.

Despite losing their last three Premiership games and dropping down to fourth in the table, Bath head coach Ford stresses that they can, with six games remaining, still feature in the end-of-season play-offs.

Ford added: "I was proud of our effort. I thought we defended really well - heroically - ball in hand we weren't too bad but a couple of loose kicks cost us 10 points. But it was probably the best that we have played for a couple of weeks.

"I though that we dominated the collisions, our defence was good, we were on top at the set piece but it just small margins that cost us. We need to recover physically for Friday night and win [at home to Sale].

"There were no trophies lifted after this game. I don't want anyone negative about what is going on. There are still six games to play and we will achieve this season's goal of a home semi-final.

"You have to look at the bigger picture and we are still playing good football. We know that it will go down to the last game of the season. We are pretty confident and I think that as a club we need to stick together."

Baxter believes Slade has all the attributes to make England's World Cup squad.

"Henry showed a lot of composure with kicks that weren't easy - one long range and one from out wide on the right - and he was good defensively. That is just the kind of pressure environment that he needs to play in to thrive," said Baxter, who was part of Stuart Lancaster's England management team for the 2013 tour of Argentina.

"What Henry has got in his favour, when you talk about putting a World Cup squad together, is that including him means that you cover three or four positions.

"You want to involve someone in your squad who can run everything with you, know all your patterns, run all your plays and know what is coming up rather than trying to draft someone in as emergency injury cover.

"I think he has a lot of plus points that Stuart could look on very favourably when he is putting the final squad together."

The win over Bath was the Chiefs' third straight Premiership victory, but they still have to travel to play Leicester, Wasps and Saracens as well as hosting London Welsh, Northampton and Sale.

"It wasn't a great match - that is the truth," Baxter said. "Both sides were a bit nervy and edgy because it was an important game for both teams, but I think after half-time we just freed up ourselves enough to have more confidence and that saw us home.

"Fair play to Bath, we know that they have some quality players missing, that was a tough game for us both mentally and physically. I am glad that we have come through it now and hopefully we can put in some better performance, especially here, against Bath."