CARL Fearns insists there was no way he was going to miss clashing against his former teammates at Sale Sharks as the flanker finally announced himself back from injury.

Since swapping Sale for Bath in 2011, Fearns’ time at the Rec has been disrupted by injury and the 24-year-old saw the last Aviva Premiership campaign end in October last time out as he underwent ankle surgery a month later.

But fast forward almost a year and the back rower, fresh from a couple of appearances for Bath United in the Aviva A League, was back in the thick of things again as he came off the bench for 29 minutes against Sale last Friday night.

And while Fearns’ return couldn’t bring about a victory – Bath going down 19-13 at the AJ Bell Stadium – the Liverpudlian admitted it was at least good to be back in the thick of things again.

“When the fixtures came out I looked at the Sale game and thought I really wanted to be back in time for that one against my old club,” he said.

“And I was pleased to get 30 minutes off the bench and although we lost the game it was just nice to be back playing again because I was itching to get back on the pitch again.

“I had played a couple of A League games and I had really enjoyed it because we have been putting out a strong squad and been taking it pretty seriously and everyone has been playing with a smile on their face.

“But while I was pleased to get on in the Premiership I was pretty disappointed with the result, especially since we talked about them having some big boys up front and looking to dominate that area.

“So we kind of knew what they were going to do but we still couldn’t stop it and that is disappointing, but we just need to learn from our mistakes and move on.”

Bath’s first opportunity to put the defeat to Sale firmly behind them arrives in France this weekend as they tackle Bordeaux Begles in the Amlin Challenge Cup.

And after seeing how seriously Bath are taking every competition this season, Fearns insists the Top 14 club are in for a rough ride.

“Bordeaux Begles will be a typically tough French side to beat, full of massive guys, so we will need to be on our game over there,” he added.

“But having played in the A League this season and seen how seriously we are taking that, I expect nothing less from the Amlin Challenge Cup.

“We want to win every competition we are in and we feel we have the squad to compete across the lot so we want to get off on the right foot in France too.”

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