Chiefs side to face Wasps

“As I said to the guys at the start of the week, you have two choices after a game like that. You can spend a lot of time getting emotionally worried about the result and trying to know how you feel about it – or you can deal with it pretty honestly, get on with it, and decided to move forward.

“What we need to do is use the disappointment of last week as a driver to go to that next step.”

With just seven rounds of the regular Premiership season remaining, the Chiefs currently sit second in the standings, 12 points adrift of leaders Bristol Bears, but only three points ahead of third-placed Sale Sharks.

Baxter knows his side can ill afford any kind of slip-ups, particularly as they look to secure a top two placing – and with it the all-important home advantage in the semi-finals.

“It’s not quite knockout rugby, as we’re second in the table, but we do know we have seven weeks left of the season,” said Baxter. “With going out of Europe, we know when the break are now, and we know what we need to do to ensure the season goes on longer for us. Right now, it’s all in our hands and it’s up to us to decide how much we want to fight for it!”

Past history, however, shows Wasps have always been formidable opponents and Baxter is duly wary of the threat posed by the Midlanders this weekend.

“You can see they are playing with a bit of confidence,” he added. “They’ve got a couple of their international players back now, who are very influential for them, and it’s helped get them back on track. That said, we have a good record here against them and it will be up to us to put in a performance that really challenges them.

And the home side’s cause will be boosted by the news that England and British Lions winger Jack Nowell is primed and ready to go. The Cornishman has not figured since the Chiefs defeated Wasps in last season, undergoing surgery on a toe injury, before picking up a hamstring tear just days before his scheduled return.

Since then, Nowell has been working hard with the club’s medical team to get fully-fit and Baxter is delighted to have the talented back available for the weekend.

“We’ve held him back a little longer than Jack would have liked, but we’ve got plenty of load into hum and now he’s very much at the level he was when he was fully fit last season,” explained Baxter. “We’ve declared him fit for this weekend and now it’s an opportunity fr him to show some form.

“From what we have seen in training, he certainly looks sharp and everything looks very positive.”

Nowell will start tomorrow’s game on the bench, but is likely to be given some involvement as the Chiefs. Other changes in personnel from last week see Alec Hepburn and Harry Williams return to the front-row, where they will prop up hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie, who is set to make his 100th Premiership appearance.

Behind them, Sam Skinner comes into the second-row for Jonny Gray, while the sole change to the Exeter back division comes on the winger where Facundo Cordero starts ahead of Olly Woodburn.

Supporters will be able to watch the game live on BT Sport 3HD and Channel 5 with build-up starting from 12:15pm.