The Cherry and Whites play Bath Rugby at the Recreation Ground on Saturday in Round Four of the 206/27 PREM Rugby Cup

Gloucester Rugby are set to unleash a crop of frustrated fringe senior players and emerging talent on Bath Rugby on Saturday in Round Four of the PREM Rugby Cup.

What unites them all is that the players running out in Cherry and White at the Rec are playing with a point to prove as they look to make a case for inclusion in the first team, which continues to fly high in the Gallagher PREM, sitting second in the standings, and the Champions Cup, after an epic draw with defending champions Bordeaux-Begles.

Speaking ahead of the latest edition of the West Country derby, Gloucester head of player development, Dom Waldouck, said: “We've got a group of sort of experienced lads, probably a bit frustrated that they haven't had the opportunities in the Prem, and then a group of young, hungry players who are just raring to go, who've been on loan at various places and now want to pull on that Gloucester jersey.

“But what sort of joins the group is the opportunity; both sides of the group have been in the shadows a little bit, and then this is an opportunity to step into the light.

“What we talked about is individually showing their weapons, showing why they've got a Gloucester jersey on; that's because there's a real big reason why each of them has been picked to be Gloucester players, and then collectively fighting as one.

“If I see those two things on the weekend, I'll be very happy, irrelevant of the result.”

That senior cohort of players Waldouck is referring to will likely include flanker James Venter, who is looking to fight his way back into contention after picking up a hamstring injury, and summer signing Joe Joyce, who missed the start of the campaign with an injury. All eyes will be on whether Irish international Ross Byrne is in the number 10 jersey, having not played since making two appearances off the bench in the PREM Rugby Cup back in September.

While performances might be more important than results, with this being a derby game, the Cherry and Whites know what is expected of them, especially after a run of defeats in this fixture was ended with an unlikely 23-5 victory against Bath in the Gallagher PREM last month.

In that epic contest at Kingsholm, the Blue Black and White were held up three times over the line by a dogged Gloucester defence, with a further two tries disallowed as immense defensive pressure forced errors from the visitors, with Kepu Tuipulotu pinged for a double movement and Enoch Opoku-Gyamfi getting stripped of the ball over the line.

Waldouck, who until the summer was responsible for Gloucester’s defence, said: “I think definitely this group has taken some inspiration from the performance of the Prem team. I think you have to.

“The club's riding a wave at the moment. It's definitely a positive feeling around things, and there's a responsibility for us as a group to push things forward.”