A WIN this weekend at local rivals Gloucester may mean more to second row Elliott Stooke than anyone else in the Bath squad.

Just last year, the 23-year-old was sat in the home dressing room at Kingsholm before making the switch in the summer.

Now, with an opposing dressing room full of familiar faces, Stooke will be looking to have the bragging rights come Saturday evening in a game that needs no further revving up.

“I will hopefully give as much knowledge as I can,” he said.

“Being a forward, you don’t really tend to get involved with too much back stuff but I’ll try and help the boys out with the forward stuff for sure.

“It’s huge. Not only in the league, they have lost their last game and so have we so both teams will be wanting to get the win.

“It’s not only that, it is derby day and I have sat in a Gloucester changing room playing against Bath and I know what it means to the fans and what it means to the club.

“I had a great time at Gloucester and everybody looked forward to derby day in a Gloucester shirt and it is much the same here.

“Now being a Bath player, I know how important it is down here to come away with a win and there is no getting away from the fact that it is a big game.

“The atmosphere is incredible. It does really get you going and it is how you can contain your emotion in a game like that.

“There’s a couple of good boys down there that I have grown up with so I will be making sure we get one up on them.”

Bath head to Gloucester on the back of a 34-14 loss away to Leicester Tigers, but Stooke is confident that the result was just a blip in what has been a fine start for the club and they are working hard in training to put it right at the first attempt.

“The ball was rolling nicely until Saturday just gone and it is how we pick our feet back up and go again,” he added.

“It was a little bit off-script from us.

“Our first loss of the season, but everyone knows how tough it is to go to Leicester and get a result.

“We’re not hiding away from the fact that we didn’t play to our potential.

“We were two or three per cent off on our execution and if everybody is on that two or three per cent then it adds up to a big team percentage.

“We’re going to tweak that in training and get ready for Saturday.”