Leicester hooker George Chuter is targeting three straight victories over their Pool rivals as the Tigers look to make the Heineken Cup knockouts.
Chuter insists that try bonus-points are not part of their thinking as they prepare to face Italian side Treviso at Stadio di Monigo on Saturday.
After the Christmas break, Richard Cockerill's side will then travel to the Ospreys before finishing off by hosting Toulouse at Welford Road.
"If we set out our stall to win all three games, we will be on at least 22 points and that gives us a good chance of topping the group and getting a home semi-final," he told the Leicester Mercury.
"It's difficult to look that far ahead but that has to be our mind-set. There is no reason why we cannot win any of those last three games.
"These games are different from the Aviva Premiership and the intensity is a notch higher. There are usually 15 players on the pitch from each side who are internationals.
"That step up in intensity is something that has perhaps been missing from our game a bit over the last couple of years.
"We have to treat them as one-off games and cannot afford to just drift through matches.
"We cannot think about planning to pick up bonus points and we have learned from the past that we cannot rely on other results to help us out."
Leicester raced into a 26-7 half-time lead at Welford Road last week before the Italians came back to finish within eight points, with Chuter wary about facing them on the road.
"Treviso had some of their second and third-choice forwards on the pitch at the start but the substitutions they made around half-time made a big difference," said Chuter.
"The second half was a good example of the way they will play this weekend. They will be dogged, get stuck in and make life difficult for us.
"If they had played like that for 60 minutes instead of 30, it would have been a cracking game."
Comments
lawynd says...
True, and no disrespect to Treviso who competed extremely well at Welford Road, as I mentioned on the match report page. But Leicester, if they have designs on lasting the distance this year (or even getting out of the groups) should be targetting this game as a potential five-pointer. It's the difference between being competitive and being champions, IMO.
Posted 13:51 14th December 2012
rugby_rockstar says...
Treviso beat teams at home. Good teams.
Leicester need 4 points first and foremost. it's game over if they blow it in Italy. They aren't firing on all cylinders this season anyway, so eyes on the ball lads. Honest graft is required, or this could be a case where it's really is all over before Christmas. Come on Tigers!
Posted 09:33 14th December 2012
lawynd says...
A bit of a head-scratcher, George; if you cannot rely on the opposition for results then surely bonus points are just as important as the win? The away game at Ospreys and home game against Toulouse should be about the win and depriving the opposition of a bonus point if possible, and the game in Treviso should be about picking up a try-scoring bonus point. 13 points and denying the other two teams would definitely see Leicester home.
Posted 09:24 14th December 2012