Marshall: ‘We relish underdogs tag’

LONDON IRISH v BATH MADEJSKI STADIUM ANGLO-WELSH CUP SATURDAY, 3PM

JAMES MARSHALL says London Irish are relishing the weekly tag of being underdogs.

The Exiles clinched their immediate return to the Premiership in May, but have won just once in the league since, as well as picking up one win in Europe.

And focus now switches to a third tournament on Saturday with the opening round of fixtures in the AngloWelsh Cup, where Irish take in an inform Bath side at the Mad Stad.

But Exiles will once again be seen as outsiders, rated as one of the four sides least likely to lift the trophy by the bookmakers.

“We knew that this season we were going to be underdogs every week,” Marshall (pictured) told The Wokingham Paper.

“That’s exciting and really gets you up for the challenge.

“We’ve been pretty disappointed with the results of late bar a couple but everyone is still pretty positive that we’re still looking to learn and get better.

“Hopefully we can see that over the next few weeks.”

Defeat against Saracens at the weekend left the Exiles 11th in the Premiership table and after two weeks of upcoming cup action, the league returns on November 19 with a clash against Bath.

And Marshall believes winning against the same opponents on Saturday can have an impact on that league game.

“Everyone’s excited to get another crack and take the learnings from what we got from the game against Saracens and really put that into place against Bath,” he said. “I’m not sure what sort of side they’re going to put out but we’re really focussed on what we need to do and we’re looking forward to doing that.

“We’ve got them in the first Premiership game back too, so we can take a lot of confidence from this game.

“Hopefully we can really put a good performance out there and build towards the Premiership game.”