VERSATILE back James Wilson admits Bath “left some opportunities out there” as they narrowly lost 17-10 to European Cup Champions Leinster last Saturday, writes JONATHAN LEIGHFIELD.

The hosts matched the Irish giants for most of the game until a long pass from Wilson was cut out and returned for the game-deciding try by Jordan Larmour.

Bath are facing an early exit from the Champions Cup, unless they are able to do what visiting teams are rarely capable of and win in Leinster’s back yard this weekend.

The 35-year-old New Zealander said the defeat at The Rec showed Bath can compete with the best and has full confidence his team can go one step further and win in Dublin.

Wilson said: “I think there were definitely some opportunities left out there from us, so we can go into this weekend’s game pretty excited that those opportunities are there, if we do the work up front like we did before.

“If we can move the ball to the space in attack and attack them around the fringes, I think we’ll definitely keep the scoreboard ticking over.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t do that last week, maybe that was because of the weather and the way things were, but there will be nothing left out there this weekend.

“We’ve got an opportunity to put Leinster away at home and not many teams get that opportunity, so hopefully we can do that this weekend.

“Talking to the boys and management that have been here longer than me, they felt it was the best overall performance that they’ve put in this season, and now we’re looking to build on that.

“Going into this weekend, we just need to touch up a few things, clarity-wise, and we can go into the game pretty confident that we can turn it around and finish them off.”

Bath will be without several key players for their trip to the Aviva Stadium, including England winger Joe Cokanasiga, but stand-in fly-half Wilson feels there is enough quality in the group regardless to pick up what would be a huge result in their season.

He said: “Considering all that has happened (with injuries to key players and the 11-game losing run), it hasn’t been difficult to keep the mood up.

“We’ve got to win on Saturday to push forward in Europe and to give us confidence moving forward in the Premiership for the rest of season. It would put us on the front foot again.

“It’s a big game, not just for Europe, but for the rest of our season, so we’re going to give it everything we have got on Saturday.”