Paul Hull believes the bigger picture he set out for Bristol at the start of the season is beginning to take shape as his side go in search of a tenth successive league victory.

Head coach Hull came in for some early-season criticism as Bristol lost two of their opening eight Championship matches and struggled over the line in others while Exeter set the pace.

But Bristol have now won nine league matches in a row – eight of them with try-scoring bonus points – and head into this weekend's fixtures four points clear of Exeter, having played one game fewer.

Victory over Plymouth Albion at the Memorial Stadium tomorrow would take Hull's side to within one win of equalling the incredible 11-match winning streak Bristol enjoyed when they won the same division in 2004-05.

And the head coach said: "We're exactly where I wanted us to be.

"We set out our stall pretty early in the campaign and I remember having to defend questions, not only about losing games, but about not winning games well.

"But in the back of our minds was that we were building a new team and a game-plan.

"We had to get the culture right, get a lot of new players to gel, and I was hoping we'd be here at this point. It's a case of so far, so good.

"We're nowhere near the end, but we're improving and we've taken 44 points from the last available 45. It's quite pleasing to see how we'll we're doing."

Bristol emerged from an enforced three-week break without a match to win 27-16 at Coventry last weekend, scoring five tries in the process.

But such are the standards being set by Hull – and met by his players – that there were still faults found within the performance.

"One of the pleasing things was the fact that, although we'd won and scored five tries away from home, there were long faces after the game," said Hull.

"There was no real high-fiving, patting people on backs or smiling faces. That showed to me that, while you play rugby to win, we've got a belief at the moment that performance is very important.

"I knew the team would be rusty after having three weeks without a game, and I was relatively pleased when we analysed the game.

"But we weren't as clinical as we have been and we probably bombed four opportunities to score. And even if we'd scored nine tries, we still wouldn't have been as happy as we could have been.

"But having a full week's training and analysing that game has, hopefully, got us back on track ahead of a tough game this weekend."

Hull is without the injured Jack Adams and Dan Montagu this weekend, as well as long-term casualties Alex Clarke, James Merriman, Ed Barnes and Bertrand Bedes. England Sevens duo Dan Norton and Mat Turner are also missing, as is club captain Roy Winters, who is getting married.

Bristol: L Arscott; L Robinson, L Eves, S Giddens, T Arscott; A Jarvis, J Spice (capt); M Irish, D Blaney, D Crompton, M Sambucetti, N Budgett, I Grieve, R Pennycook, J Phillips. Reps: R Johnston, W Thompson, M Vunipola, D Barry, J Miller, R Shaw, J Fatialofa.