Hurrell in full flow now after his Bath sojourn

RE-ENERGISED Bristol centre Will Hurrell has warned those writing off his side’s chances of a top six Premiership finish to think again.

Hurrell, below, who spent the back end of last season at Bath, was influential in Bristol’s opening matches before being rested for Friday night’s defeat at Gloucester.

Pat Lam’s side are widely tipped to struggle, but defiant Hurrell, 28, said: “We didn’t just rock up and have a couple of good games, we’ve built towards this and worked very hard on specific things to be ready for the Premiership.

“This club is going places and I think we’ll go well. People still say we’ll go straight back down but they’ll soon starting believing in us. Pat Lam’s outlined his vision to see us challenge in this league and that’s what we intend to do.

“What’s different to last time we were in the Premiership is we’ve got huge competition all over the team. Back row is been going particularly well but it’s the same everywhere and I’m doing battle with Siale Piutau and Tusi Pisi.”

Hurrell’s loan to Bath last January seemed to indicate a move away was imminent but the former Leicester academy man said: “I can see how people would assume that and I had messages from fans about it, but for me it was just a great learning year.

“I’ve got strengths to my game – ball-carrying, tackling and my defensive organisation – but joining Bath was an opportunity to expand on that and push myself to the next level, which I think I did and that’s paying dividends now.

“I was never going to leave Bristol. I was already signed up for the next couple of years because I believe in the vision of what we want to achieve. Hopefully, with the extras I’ve added to my game, I can take it another notch.”