Tigers can top Pool of Death - Flood

On fire: Toby Flood

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Tigers fly-half Toby Flood is adamant that Leicester can still top their Heineken Cup pool after claiming a thrilling victory over the Ospreys at Welford Road on Sunday.

Along with England team-mate Ben Youngs, Flood was at the heart of Tigers' impressive display, scoring 24 points including an intercept try, as Leicester staged a storming finish to bag a bonus point.

After defeat in Toulouse a week before, the result has put Tigers back into contention to finish at the top of Pool Two and qualify for the quarter-finals.

"We knew if we got the basics right we would be there or thereabouts," said Flood.

"We feel we have the fitness and ability to hurt teams in the last 20 minutes. That is the mentality we've got.

"After being written off - the English clubs generally - Quins have had a fantastic start to the Heineken Cup, so have Saracens, and that win today was massive for us.

"The pool is very much open and there is still a good chance we can hit the last two games in January in a positive manner knowing very much what we need to do."

Leicester boss Richard Cockerill hailed Flood's match-winning performance, that did his chances of wearing the England 10 jersey in November a power of good.

"I think Toby gets a lot of unfair criticism," said Cockerill.

"He's played 50-odd Tests for England. He is a really good player."

Youngs also scored a late try as he bounced back from a disappointing performance in Toulouse - including a decision to run a kickable penalty at a crucial time - that prompted criticism from Cockerill.

"It has worked more times than it hasn't, and I am not going to change the way I play," said Youngs.

"I got it wrong against Toulouse, but I have got some real good people around me and we blame ourselves collectively. We gave a lot of penalties away against Toulouse."

And Cockerill added: "We know Ben is an outstanding player. He is one of the biggest threats around when he makes those calls right.

"Last week, in a certain circumstance, he made the wrong decision. He knows that.

"The game was frantic at times today. We gave away too many kickable penalties against a very good goalkicker, but so did they.

"It was the result we needed. The attitude of the players was outstanding. They wanted to play and work as hard as they could to get the result.

"At 10-0 down we kept our composure really well and played ourselves back into it. Ospreys started very strongly, but we got back into it and the tide started to turn."