Junior Fatialofa is convinced Bristol Rugby's players are ready to hit a new level of performance as they aim to claim promotion back to the Guinness Premiership.

Bristol's Championship play-off campaign kicks off with a home Pool A match against Cornish Pirates tomorrow – and Fatialofa says last weekend's shock defeat at Moseley has already been consigned to the past.

Despite outscoring their ninth-placed opponents by four tries to two, the table-toppers eventually went down 30-25.

But centre Fatialofa admitted that too many of the Bristol players had allowed their minds to wander to tomorrow's play-off opener – and he is backing his team-mates to start their promotion push with a bang.

"We came in on Monday, had a look at the tape and picked the bones out of that game – but we've moved on now," said Fatialofa.

"We haven't got too much time to dwell on that loss, because of the short turnaround, and our focus now is on Pirates on Friday night.

"We probably had our eyes on this part of the season last weekend, so we forgot to turn up against Moseley. But this is the time of year where you will see the boys step up and play to a different level.

"We've known how important the play-offs are since the start of the season and, with the way it's structured, we can't look too far ahead of ourselves. Every game in our pool is going to be tough – home and away – so our focus is on taking it week by week and slowly improving."

Bristol proved their promotion credentials by finishing the 22-game regular season four points clear of second-placed Exeter – and 36 points clear of tomorrow's opponents – at the top of the Championship table.

But the hard work must start all over again tomorrow, with Paul Hull's men having to negotiate their way through a further nine matches if they are to return to the Premiership.

And Fatialofa said: "It's do or die now. It's about who turns up on the day and produces that 80-minute performance.

"All the teams are pretty much even, in as much that form counts for nothing now.

"It is good to kick off at home and the boys always love playing at home. We get great support and they get right behind us. I guess we need them more now than at any other time in the year.

"Every game is a crunch game and every game counts towards us hopefully playing well towards the end of May and getting to the final.

"Then, if we're in the final, the golden prize is up for grabs."

To get there, though, Bristol must finish inside the top two in Pool A, before winning a one-off semi-final match on the weekend of May 8.

"We can't look back now – all we've got to do is look forward," said Fatialofa.

"There is not much fitness work we can do now – everything is set in place and it's just about turning up on the day with a good attitude and performing.

"The last time we lost a league game, we went on a really good winning run. It would be good to replicate that, but it's easier said than done. We've got a lot of hard work to do and this is a new week.

"The boys have cleared their minds after last week's disappointment and we're really focused on the tough challenge that Pirates will present on Friday night."

Bristol (from): Backs – L Arscott, L Robinson, D Norton, A Crockett, J Fatialofa, J Adams, L Eves, A Jarvis, M Davies, J Spice, R Shaw. Forwards – M Irish, M Vunipola, R Johnston, O Hayes, W Thompson, D Crompton, D Barry, N Budgett, J Phillips, I Grieve, D Montagu, J Merriman, R Pennycook.

Cornish Pirates (from): R Cook, N Jackson, M Ireland, S Winn, J Bentley, G Cattle, D Ward, B Cowan, L McGlone, C Morgan, M Evans, J Doherty, R Labuschagne, R Storer, C Rimmer, A Havili, B Gulliver, S Franklin, P Andrew, P Devlin, R Prosser, L Collins, R McAtee, T Luke, M Myerscough, A Paver, R Elloway.