BATH captain Stuart Hooper has vowed that his team will be up for the challenge of trying to secure an unlikely European Champions Cup quarter-final place.

A 21-19 home defeat against Toulouse has left Bath needing to win their remaining Pool Four fixtures - including trips to Montpellier and Toulouse - or face making an early exit.

It is a tall order, and comes after they were undone by deadly Toulouse finishing.

Tries by wing Vincent Clerc, flanker Imanol Harinordoquy and full-back Maxime Medard, plus conversions from England international Toby Flood (two) and Luke McAlister, secured Toulouse's triumph.

England squad fly-half George Ford kicked three penalties, a drop-goal and conversion of substitute hooker Ross Batty's late try for Bath, yet they came up agonisingly short, with a losing bonus point meaning little.

"Toulouse had a dodgy start to the season, then through the last three games they reverted to a very physical approach, but I thought our boys fronted up brilliantly," Hooper said.

"The performance we delivered last week (Bath lost 37-10 against Glasgow) we know wasn't good enough. We didn't get the result today, but the performance was poles apart from where we were last week.

"We have made it tough for ourselves now.

"In all likelihood, we are going to have to go to Montpellier and Toulouse and win, and also win our home games. It's a challenge, but it is one that we are up for."

Bath's back-row injury crisis meant that locks Dominic Day and Charlie Ewels started at blindside flanker and number eight, respectively, but Ewels, especially, thrived on his home debut opposite an imposing Toulouse breakaway trio of Harinordoquy, Thierry Dusautoir and Louis Picamoles.

Bath head coach Mike Ford said: "We were very close. We were one kick away from winning the game against a team that has got 600 caps.

"The back row we put out today had not started a Premiership game in those positions, so I think it is a fantastic performance.

"Yes, we conceded some soft tries due to people not knowing their roles, but to take a Toulouse side that close, I am very proud.

"That was Charlie Ewels' debut - he was a brilliant, a atar of the future - Dom Day is a lock playing in the back-row and (openside flanker) David Sisi has not started a Premiership game yet for us.

"The boys have got no regrets. They left everything on the field.

"We've got Montpellier away on December 6, and I think we will have a few more players back by then. We will go there and try to win the game and we will see where we sit after that.

"We had a lot of possession and field position, but Toulouse are a good side and we knew it was going to be about small margins."

Four-time European champions Toulouse march on, though, and skipper Dusautoir said: "We are very happy.

"We should have been better today, but we have got two wins out of two, which is very important in the European Cup.

"It wasn't perfect, but four weeks ago we had five losses in the Top 14, so we can be really happy with what we did today."