Richard Hill is confident Bristol will end their 13-match losing run when Toulon visit the Memorial Stadium on Friday.

The big-spending French side made their priorities clear when fielding a second team in Thursday's 56-3 European Challenge Cup home defeat to Northampton.

And Bristol boss Hill, whose side started well before going down 33-15 in their Pool Two opener at Montpellier last night, has vowed to send out a full-strength team when Toulon come to town.

They shipped seven tries against Northampton on Thursday and appear to be focusing solely on the French championship this season.

Bristol, meanwhile, competed fiercely against Montpellier for 40 minutes – taking a 12-3 lead at one point – before fading away after the break.

But the head coach knows his squad is heading in the right direction despite a record that shows seven defeats from seven games so far this term on top of the six losses they ended last season with.

"We are holding back our first-team players for the Toulon game," said Hill.

"We're aiming to put a full side out in that game – and against Saracens in the EDF Energy Cup – and get two good wins under our belt before we come into Northampton at home in the Guinness Premiership. That's the idea.

"If Toulon bring the same team to us that they put out against Northampton – which we hear they might do – then that should be our first win of the season. That might give our players a bit more encouragement.

"I'm not going to worry too much about the statistics of how many games we've now lost. We should get a win next week and then we'll see what happens after that.

"I think we're confident that, with what we've got, we'll get out of the situation we're in. The players are looking forward to the next few games and we will get better and better. I'm not concerned – I think we'll do well."

Bristol failed to capitalise on an excellent start last night, with wing Lee Robinson crossing after 36 seconds before No 8 Iain Grieve started and finished the move for a second Bristol try on nine minutes.

That gave Hill's men a 12-3 lead, but they did not score a point after the 17th minute and tries from Francois Trinh-Duc, Thierry Brana and Mickael Ladhuie – as well as18 points from the boot of the faultless Federico Todeschini – allowed the hosts to ease to victory.

"Both sides looked good early on, but the game fizzled out in the second half," said Hill.