HEAD coach Mike Ford believes his squad have found a cure for their travel sickness.

Bath return to Sale tomorrow night (7.45pm) to contest their LV= Cup opener, a month on from arguably the one major low point of their season, the 19-13 Aviva Premiership defeat at the Manchester side.

But that and the 31-17 loss at early pacesetters Saracens remain the only blots on their copybook in a hugely encouraging start to the season and Ford hopes their away-day woes (they lost 10 league and cup road fixtures last season) are a thing of the past.

“If you look at the fixture since Sale, we had a good chat and put things in place and we went to Bordeaux and then executed them perfectly and did the same against at Worcester,’’ he said.

“So with the away form, the monkey is off our back I believe and it’s another opportunity to show that we have learned lessons about playing away from home.

“We’ve played five (away) and won three, three-and-a-half because we beat Saracens in that second half so we’ve got no hang-ups about it.’’

Leroy Houston is poised to return from a shoulder injury, sustained at Sale last month, to start at number eight, but Wales and British Lions star Gavin Henson has tweaked a calf and will not be involved.

Ford, who is also set to start with Martin Roberts at scrum-half, also pointed to the United side’s progress in the Aviva A League semi-finals as a significant marker.

Bath United will host Sale Jets in the last four on Monday, November 25 (7.30pm) after finishing top of the Southern Conference, beating Saracens Storm 35-14 away from home on Monday of last week.

He added: “It’s five wins we’ve had in a row now, including the A team, we count that as well.

“The A team really boosted the club. That win at Saracens, what they did, the way senior players rocked up and their attitude was fantastic, it’s just a massive turning point within the club.

“Gavin (Henson), Horacio (Agulla), Nick Abendanon, Tom Biggs all went out there and put in that performance and just shows what culture we had at the club. It boosted everybody.’’

NEWS FROM BATH'S MATCH AGAINST SALE AT WILTSHIRETIMES.CO.UK/SPORT TOMORROW AND IN NEXT WEEK'S WILTSHIRE TIMES