Steve Meehan has urged his Bath side to throw off the shackles and attack Gloucester for 80 minutes this weekend.

The head coach saw his side throw away a 17-0 half-time lead and end up drawing 20-20 against London Irish five days ago – and does not want to see a repeat at Kingsholm on Saturday.

Meehan felt his players retreated to their shells after the break at the Recreation Ground, allowing Irish to fight back for two potentially crucial Guinness Premiership points.

"We have to play as we did in the first half against London Irish for the remainder of the season," said Meehan. "And you may as well go to Gloucester and throw the kitchen sink at them. You may as well go and have a good dig.

"There's no point sitting back and letting the game unfold in front of you – you've really got to go out and be attacking-minded and aggressive."

While Bath were throwing away a hefty lead at home to Irish, Gloucester were stuttering at Harlequins on Saturday, eventually going down 14-9.

But Meehan recognises the threat posed by the current Premiership table-toppers.

"Their form through the Premiership this season has generally been winning form," said Meehan.

"They are probably not playing as well as they would like – perhaps as we were feeling through December and January – but still knocking out valuable wins when necessary. They know how to win and they have got very good players and a deep squad. It will be very difficult, no doubt."

Meehan's Gloucester counterpart, Dean Ryan, believes Bath's open style will make them a dangerous but vulnerable opponent this weekend.

"They've played some great rugby," said Ryan. "I think they've continued with some of the development of last year and they've been very successful with it.

"But also, at times, it has made them vulnerable and it's key that we seize on those opportunities. And there will be opportunities at the weekend, there's no doubt.

"Whether they've managed the balance between their ambition and reality is going to be key from week to week."