Carlos Spencer has already seen enough to convince him Gloucester have what it takes to win the Guinness Premiership title this season.

The 33-year-old fly-half joined the club following his recent release from Northampton and impressed on his debut as Gloucester beat fellow title challengers Sale last weekend.

And having also recently beaten another of the top sides, London Irish, they head to Harlequins today before hosting Bath next weekend and then travelling to Leicester.

"I dont think you would want it to be any different," said the former All Black.

"Thats what makes a great side going from one tough game to another and over the next four weeks, I think we will know where we are.

"I think we will know if we can win this championship or not. And that is the belief that the guys have got to get that we can win the Premiership.

"To have beaten Sale and London Irish recently shows we can beat the big guns and that is only going to build confidence in the team. Now we need to carry that momentum on."

And although Spencer has spent little more than a week with Gloucester, he is in no doubt whatsoever about their title credentials.

"I have definitely seen enough here to suggest we can win the title," said Spencer.

"And we have also got the guys coming back from their international teams soon. So I think weve got the right squad here to do it.

"You dont want the chance to relax or to take your finger off the button, and the fixtures weve got will keep the pressure on the boys and keep us focused over the next few weeks. Thats exactly what we need."

Spencer has signed with Gloucester until the end of next season and has made an encouraging start at Kingsholm.

He dictated the play in last weekends 24-17 victory over Sale and is excited about continuing to develop his fly-half/inside centre partnership with Olly Barkley at the Twickenham Stoop today.

"I couldnt have asked for a better start," he said.

"It was something I was quite nervous about, especially with the first game being at Kingsholm, and it was a busy week last week.

"But Ive got my head around things and to get that first game under my belt was really good.

"I thought me and Olly worked quite well last week and he was a tremendous help to me. He took a lot of pressure off me with calling moves and he was great for me.

"You can only build partnerships over a period of time, but I think we got off to a good start and Im excited about the next few weeks and months."

And Spencer is in no doubt that he made the right move in heading to Kingsholm after his departure from Northampton.

"This is a side that I believe suits my style of my rugby and its also a side at the top of the table and with a chance of winning silverware," he said.

"At this time of your career you want to try to keep things fresh and exciting and this move has definitely done that.

"One door closed at Northampton, but an even bigger one has opened here for me at Gloucester."

With skipper Mike Tindall unavailable following his outing for England last weekend, head coach Dean Ryan has selected Henry Trinder at outside centre and handed the captaincy to Gareth Delve.

The Wales No 8 has impressed in the two matches he has played since returning from cruciate knee ligament surgery.

Harlequins: M Brown; D Strettle, G Tiesi, J Turner-Hall, T Williams; N Evans, A Gomarsall; C Jones, G Botha, M Ross, O Kohn, G Robson, C Robshaw, W Skinner (capt), T Guest. Reps: A Croall, M Lambert, J Evans, N McMillan, J Polueuligaga, C Malone, U Monye.

Gloucester: I Balshaw; C Sharples, H Trinder, O Barkley, J Simpson-Daniel; C Spencer, R Lawson; N Wood, A Titterrell, G Somerville, M Bortolami, A Brown, L Narraway, A Hazell, G Delve (capt). Reps: O Azam, A Dickinson, A Eustace, A Satala, R Lamb, A Allen, M Foster.