Exeter Chiefs wing Jack Nowell and his team-mates have been putting in the hard yards in training this week as they look to make up the inches which will help them take on the Premiership's 'big four'.
In a tight league where points on the board are precious and victories are almost always earned the hard way, Chiefs again proved they can more than mix it with the top sides, but getting over the line requires just that little bit extra.
Certainly, the television match official thought so against top side Saracens at Sandy Park last Saturday, with Exeter flanker Tom Johnson adjudged to be just a whisker away from what could have been a last-minute, match-drawing try.
"We were making the opportunities [against Saracens] and just the TMO decision went against us at the end," said 20-year-old Nowell.
"So we are getting there as a team, now it's just about going that extra inch over the line to finish these sides off."
And, with Chiefs travelling to third-placed Bath tomorrow, flying wing Nowell admits the focus is less on ending a winless run against their bogey side, and more about ensuring they sustain performance levels from the first minute to the last.
They did not quite manage that the last time they visited the Rec, two weeks ago, conceding two tries in the opening six minutes of their LV= Cup encounter and being unable to recover.
And, with the narrow home loss to Sarries still fresh in the mind, Nowell can see motivation enough to put some matters right.
He said: "I think we have a lot to make up for from the last time we played Bath, and a lot to prove.
"It's never nice to go down two tries and be at 14-0 within six minutes played. Rarely are a lot of tries scored in the Premiership now because it's so close, so two tries is a lot to come back from, so we made it very hard for ourselves.
"It would be nice to quieten the crowd up there early on. The crowd are a big part of playing at Bath and they get behind their team a lot. I think a couple of weeks ago, with their side scoring those two tries very early, it made it a lot worse for us, so we'd very much like to go up there and get on top straight away.
"With our squad this year, the team we went up there with was very good, we just didn't show up in the first couple of minutes. Now, with the boys coming back who had rested for those two weeks [of the LV= Cup] we just have to go and play as a team again."
Despite the 16-9 loss to Saracens which kept them in fifth place, a point behind Harlequins and level with Leicester, Nowell can see plenty of reasons why Chiefs could be optimistic about securing their first winning margin against Bath since 1978.
He said: "It's the same every Saturday, it doesn't matter who we're playing, we just have to perform. Obviously with that result a couple of weeks ago we just need to make sure we get off the bus and are ready to play straight away.
"There's a lot of chat about us not having beaten them. But it's just like any game in the Premiership – it's a physical game, no different to any other."
