Pressure is on me, says Callard

Jon Callard was defiant after Bath?s third defeat on the trot dumped them at the bottom of the Zurich Premiership. Callard, the Bath director of rugby, having seen his side?s 27-20 capitulation at home to Saracens, admitted: ?There is enormous pressure on myself and my coaching team, but no-one is going to walk away from it.

No- one is going to quit. No- one is going to stand back and say:?Let someone else have a go.? ?And we will certainly not get the cheque book out and start running around after big names.? Bath have been forced to blood youngsters such as fly half Olly Barklay in the absence of key players, although England centre Mike Tindall returned from injury and his fellow international, full back Matt Perry, should be fit to face Leicester on Saturday. England utility back Mike Catt is due to resume training this week as is lock Andy Lloyd and the chance to choose from something approaching a full-strength squad cannot come soon enough for Callard.

Yesterday?s defeat followed setbacks for Bath against newly-promoted Leeds and Northampton. Barklay's five penalties from five attempts kept them in contention but their hopes were wrecked by Tim Horan's scintillating 70-yard try in the final minute.

Iain Balshaw and Andy Williams seemed to have the legendary Australian centre covered, but Horan stood them both up, stepped inside and sprinted to the posts. Callard was not the only one in a defiant frame of mind. It has been a hard week for Bath captain Dan Lyle, the son of a retired U.S. general, who is still trying to come to terms with the events in his homeland last week.

But when asked if he regretted his decision to go ahead and play on Saturday the No. 8 insisted: ?I was always going to play. I am not feeling too good right now, and focusing this week has been tremendously difficult, I can?t deny that. ?Hopefully, my game did not show that today, I played as well as I could under the circumstances. But I was numb.

?It is three losses, I am a Bath man and I am disappointed about that. But what has happened back home this week does tend to lend a slightly different perspective to Bath?s run of three defeats in a row.?