BATH Rugby will look to book their place in the Aviva Premiership play-offs this evening when they travel to Harlequins.

Mike Ford’s men missed out in heartbreaking fashion at the same venue last season after suffering an agonising defeat at The Stoop on the final day of the season.

However, Bath look almost certain to be in this season’s semi-finals as they are second in the table with two games to go, seven points above Exeter Chiefs in fifth.

With the Chiefs meeting third-placed Saracens on Sunday, a win for Bath in London would guarantee them a play-off spot.

That has given them plenty of hunger for their meeting with Quins, a team who are traditional play-off chasers but are way down in eighth this term.

Bath first team coach Neal Hatley said: “It would be fantastic to put it to bed this weekend. Last year, it went down to the final game and we unfortunately dropped out.

“We know that if we win well this weekend, we will know we are in the play-offs come the end of the season.

“We haven’t really talked about last year. Maybe one or two of the coaches have thought about it but for all the players, they are just raring to go like it’s any other game. We’re a different side to last year. We’ve made a lot of improvements and come a long way.

“This year, teams like Exeter and Wasps have been absolutely outstanding. It’s probably the closest race for the top four that I can remember so if we were able to qualify with a week to spare, that would be an unbelievable achievement.

Tighthead prop Davey Wilson returns to the Bath side for the first time in almost four months tonight. The England international has been out after undergoing neck surgery, an injury which ruled him out of the Six Nations.

Hatley added: “We’re hoping that Davey will play and have a real role this weekend.

“We haven’t quite decided what to do with him yet - we may start him and let him loose and see how much he has in the tank.”