Greg Somerville believes Gloucester can consolidate top spot in the Guinness Premiership if they claim Leicester Tigers' scalp at a sold out Welford Road on Saturday, writes Matt Cain.

But the Cherry & Whites must overcome their own on-the-road frailties to do so, as they have not won away at all in 2009, losing at Newcastle (10-7), Biarritz (24-10) and Harlequins (14-9) since their last away win, a 29-10 success at Bristol in December.

Maybe Gloucester are owed an away win, but fifth-placed Leicester's play-off challenge has come thanks to a home record that includes only one league defeat at home – and that was in September.

"If you nail a couple of away wins it definitely helps you up the ladder," said former All Black prop Somerville.

"Leicester pride themselves on performing at home and playing well – but to be fair we haven't played that well away from home for a while. It is hard to remember when we last won away.

"That is a big challenge for us to go up there, see where we are at and see if we can back up our performance last weekend.

"I'm not too sure (why Gloucester don't play well away from home). It seems to be a common problem over here. The track records aren't that good.

"You do tend to get up for the home games when the crowd is there but you need the mental strength to front up when you are away."

Securing an away victory at Leicester will put Gloucester, who are five points clear of second-placed Sale, in the driving seat to finish top of the pile.

The Cherry & Whites have six games left – some of the club's title rivals have seven or even eight games remaining – but they are against lowly Wasps and Worcester home and away, and away to out-of-form Northampton.

Somerville, 31, added: "At the moment, it is all about who can get to the finish line the best. It has been a long season and there have been some pretty testing times for the club.

"We've gone through part of the Six Nations with players coming and going (from international squads), and injuries to players and it has tested the squad's depth. The depth has been key.

"The ones that manage to come out of the next two or three matches the strongest and feeling fresh will be in a good position to push on after that.

"We need a few wins yet before we can start looking at the play-offs. It is getting to that time of the year when the exciting times are coming.

"We just need to keep working hard at our game. Hopefully we can get another couple of wins in the next month and then hopefully we can freshen up and become excited by the end of the season.

"You don't want to run the batteries flat by the time you get to the play-offs but then again you have to make sure you can get there. Our aim is to get there by putting in a couple of good months."