MATT Salter says the current Bristol squad has in abundance the one thing the relegated class of 2003 lacked – togetherness.

Flanker Salter, who stood down as club captain in the summer, will skipper the side for a second successive game in tomorrow evening's European Challenge Cup match at Montpellier.

And while the distraction of European competition is welcome after five successive Guinness Premiership defeats and an EDF Energy Cup loss, Salter says the league has to remain Bristol's main priority. The 31-year-old blindside experienced relegation from the top flight of English rugby with Bristol in 2003, but he is adamant the current crop will stick together to fight their way out of trouble.

"It's not easy to stay positive," said Salter. "But I've been in a situation where we did get relegated and I think we were relegated partly due to the fact that we didn't stick together as a team.

"From the top level to the bottom level we decided we were going to look for alternative options if it did happen – we were going to merge with other teams and the players were trying to sign for other clubs.

"That was a massive part of us going down, so that won't happen again and it can't happen again. While you are only one win away from the next team above you, that's all you have got to look at.

"We have had five losses, but you don't concentrate on that – you concentrate on how many wins you are away from getting above the next team.

"The next team are one win away – so we know that if we win our next Premiership game, and they don't, we are right back in the mix. That's as simple as it is, and it can change from one week to the next."

The squad that fell out of the Premiership more than five years ago was arguably packed with bigger names than the current group – players such as Agustin Pichot, Felipe Contepomi, Andrew Sheridan, Julian White, Alex Brown, Michael Lipman and Daryl Gibson were all on the club's books then.

But Salter says the current squad have a realism and togetherness that can prove an essential ingredient in them fighting their way up from the bottom of the table.

"The team that was relegated – from the people who were in charge of the squad downwards – disintegrated and splintered because no one prepared for the situation," he said.

"But this group has always been realistic – we don't end up panicking if we don't win every single game. We've always said that if we lost a few games in a row then we would stay tight.

"The season we went down, from Christmas onward things started to implode. But that can't happen now and it won't, because when you are one win away from the nearest team you are always in with a shout. It's very early days.

"If we were playing to the best of our ability and still getting beaten then you would worry, because that's all you have got to offer. But we know we aren't and we know we are getting better and when we do reach our ability, we will take these teams – we have just got to believe in that.

"The first win is crucial, and it is about individuals cutting out errors. That first win will come, and it could be this weekend, in which case we will be celebrating on Friday with red wine and foie gras."

Bristol (probable): V Lilo; T Arscott, G Barden, K Maggs, L Robinson; A Jarvis, H Thomas; M Irish, D Blaney, P Bracken, M Sambucetti, R Sidoli, M Salter (capt), R Pennycook, I Grieve. Reps: M Regan, A Clarke, D Attwood, J Phillips, G Beveridge, C Ashwin, N Brew.