Adrian Jarvis has hailed the positive impact Jason Spice has already had on the Bristol squad.

Head coach Paul Hull signed the experienced scrum-half from Cardiff Blues in the summer – and his captaincy has started with three successive Championship victories.

Bristol face their toughest test of the season so far when they go to Bedford Blues today, with both sides having claimed 14 points from the 15 available so far.

And Jarvis – who has partnered Spice at half-back in each of his side's three league matches – is enjoying playing alongside the 34-year-old.

"Jason has had a really good impact," said Jarvis. "He's very much in control of his game and he doesn't get rattled at all.

"He never looks like he's panicking and always looks like he's got time on the ball, which is always a sign of a very good player.

"It's been good having him here and he's had a really good influence on the side, directing the pack and getting them over the gain-line. He's an experienced guy and a lot of that experience is rubbing off on the rest of the squad, which is really positive."

Outside Spice and Jarvis, an exciting back-line is also beginning to find its feet, with players such as Jack Adams, Dan Norton and Tom Arscott all impressing during the early stages of the season.

"We've seen what some of the guys can do with the ball – so I'm simply trying to get the ball into their hands," said Jarvis.

"It's a pleasure to play with them and they're very creative. We're getting some good ball from the guys up front and that makes a difference."

Three victories from three matches going into today's top-of-the-table clash have led to something of a new mindset at Bristol, who won only two league matches in all of last season.

And Jarvis hopes that momentum can continue when Bristol come up against a side who are yet to concede a try this season.

"You've got to enjoy wins – and we have done," he said. "I don't think we won two in a row throughout last season, so to have won three in a row is great.

"If you look at last season, we were losing games all the time, whereas this season we haven't put together an 80-minute performance yet but we've still managed to come out with three wins. Hopefully, we can get another one at Bedford, which would be a great result for us up there.

"We've made a good start but there's still lots to work on. We've spoken about our game-plan and about how we're going to try to play at Bedford.

"If we get that right, hopefully we can take our opportunities and score some tries.

"They've got a very good defence so we're going to have to be on top of our game, but we can go there with massive confidence."

Bristol: Arscott; Robinson, Adams, Eves, Norton, Jarvis, Spice (c), Irish, Blaney, Thompson, Sambucetti, Winters, Grieve, Merriman, Montagu. Replacements: Hayes, Crompton, Phillips, Pennycook, Shaw, Davies, Fatialofa, Arscott, Clarke.