Andrew Higgins can empathise with the Bristol players' current predicament because he has been through it before, writes Steve Cotton.

But the Bath winger believes his former club's plight will make them a dangerous opponent tomorrow.

Higgins was part of the Bristol squad relegated from the Premiership in 2003 after six months of very public uncertainty at the Memorial Stadium.

And while he appreciates the enormity of the situation facing the club's current crop of players as they face almost certain relegation, he believes they will come to the Recreation Ground tomorrow with a new-found freedom and confidence.

Bristol, with seven matches left to play, sit 12 points behind eleventh-placed Worcester in the Guinness Premiership – and are ranked 1-100 certs with some bookmakers to finish bottom of the pile.

"If you look at the situation Bristol are in, they are the bookies' favourites to go down, so in a sense the pressure is off them now," said Higgins.

"They are in such a bad spot that the pressure is off – and we've watched footage of them over the last week or so and noticed they have started to play some attractive rugby. The pressure's off so they can have a go, they can have a crack.

"It gets quite oppressive when you are down at the bottom, you become scared of making mistakes. But now it looks like they are going to go down, so without that pressure of every week being a cup final, I think it will suit those guys. Maybe that's why they've picked up their game a bit.

"For that reason, they are dangerous and this is a dangerous game, but we are prepared and we know what we've got to do."

Higgins' final season at Bristol became a circus when then owner Malcolm Pearce announced, six months from the end of the campaign, that he would be withdrawing his funding.

That prompted a nosedive in the club's results, as well as creating a free-for-all on the transfer market as the players sought alternative employment while attempting to fight relegation battle on the field.

"I was in the situation they are in now and it wasn't very nice at all," said Higgins.

"We knew from Christmas that the investment was going to stop and it's very hard to remain focused when something like that happens.

"But I think, in a sense, that some of their individuals are playing for themselves and their futures – and that can make them dangerous."

Bristol produced a significantly improved performance but still lost 17-14 at home to Harlequins last weekend, while Bath returned from Kingsholm empty-handed despite playing some excellent rugby in a 36-27 thriller against Gloucester.

And Higgins, who scored his fourth try in three matches in that game, knows his side must start making up for the points they have dropped recently.

The Kingsholm loss followed the 20-20 home draw with London Irish, a result which came despite Bath leading 17-0 at half-time.

"We look back over the last two weeks and we know we should have won against Gloucester – and we certainly should have won against London Irish," he said.

"You're looking at up to an extra eight points we should have picked up in those two games. But we are playing well – and even over the last two weeks we've played some phenomenal rugby."