Jordan Crane believes Leicester Tigers must bottle up the emotions from the 45-0 collapse at Bath to use to their advantage when
they take on the Aviva Premiership high-flyers at Welford Road on Sunday.
The whitewash pummelling Tigers received at the Rec in September was their heaviest defeat in the Premiership, and Crane knows Tigers must exact revenge in front of a sell-out home crowd.
The two clubs have a long history, but it has been some time since Bath were favourites heading into a clash at Welford Road.
They are second in the table, have won their last seven matches in all competitions and are now unbeaten in any of their last five outings against Tigers.
Crane knows the task his side face, but is keen for some payback.
"(The 45-0 defeat) left a very bad taste in our mouths," he said. "We went there, didn't perform and paid the price for that.
"We are going to want to get some revenge, but in our heads it's just another league game that we need to win.
"That's got to be our mentality, but we need to bottle a bit of how we felt after the game there and use that to our advantage on Sunday.
"They'll be pretty confident. Hopefully they'll take it for granted, but I don't think they will coming to Welford Road.
"They're showing signs of a really good side, but I think we need the points more than them, so we need to be hungrier and ready for the battle.
"It's a massive occasion. The history of the fixture and everything else will be pumped into them, the same as us.
"They'll definitely be up for this game, and it's up to us go out, perform and get the result."
Tigers head into the clash on the back of a fine bonus-point comeback win at Sale, where they showed improvements with ball in hand, an area in which they have been uninspiring this season.
But Tigers were also less solid in defence at the AJ Bell Stadium, conceding four tries, and with Bath in town, progress is needed.
Tigers will need to deal with the threats of Kyle Eastmond and Sam Burgess in the midfield, plus the pace and guile of back three Matt Banahan, Horacio Agulla and Anthony Watson.
Crane wants Tigers to keep up their attacking flair, but admits they will need to be wary of the dangers Bath pose.
The 28-year-old said: "Sale was the best we've attacked in terms of keeping ball in hand. Every time we had the ball we looked dangerous.
"It's finding that balance, but I think you can be attack-minded and still be a good defensive team.
"Bath have got big threats, it's probably the best Bath team I've played against.
"It's not just because of the players they've got, it's the way that they're getting those players to play.
"It's going to be a massive challenge, but we're up to it."