Luke Eves did not hesitate to turn down offers from Guinness Premiership clubs following Bristol's relegation – because he is confident his hometown club are heading back there under Paul Hull.

The England Under-20 vice-captain and centre was the subject of interest from some of the country's leading clubs after Bristol's relegation – but chose instead to stick with the club he joined from school.

And the 20-year-old sees no reason why he will not be preparing for a Premiership campaign with Bristol this time next year.

"There were other offers around but I believe that, with what Paul Hull is trying to do here, there is a real positive outlook for the club," said Eves.

"Our aim is obviously to get promoted and I think that, with the way we are going to play, there is a very good chance of doing that.

"I feel that Bristol is the best place for me to develop my game at the moment. I am still quite young and I have still got quite of lot of developing to do – and I believe the best place to do that is here with Paul Hull and his coaching staff."

Eves has taken heart from the way Northampton and Harlequins have used relegation from the Premiership to refocus and rebuild – with players such as Dylan Hartley, Ugo Monye and David Strettle establishing themselves in the England squad since returning to the top flight.

"If you look at Harlequins and Northampton, they have come back very strongly after being relegated," said Eves. "There are a few lads who play for Leeds in my age group and I have seen them improve their games ten-fold over the past year. I am really looking forward to playing in the Championship and doing well with Bristol."

"I got quite a few games under my belt last season, so I feel more comfortable at first-team level. I also feel as though I can be a bit more vocal in training, which maybe I wasn't last season with being the new, young lad coming into a high level of rugby.

"I definitely feel more confident this year, but I will still try to rely on the boys around me like Luke Arscott, who has been there a lot longer than I have."

While he may not be quite ready to take on a key leadership role within the Bristol side just yet, Eves has certainly benefited from a step-up in responsibility at international level.

He captained England in the opening two matches of the recent IRB Junior World Championship – and was vice-captain for the remainder of the tournament.

"The first game of the World Championship was my first time as captain of any team," said Eves. "I was only ever vice-captain at school, so it was a good experience to captain England at Under-20 level. That has definitely given me more confidence and it made me raise my game a bit."

Eves will start at outside centre when Bristol open their pre-season campaign at Clifton tonight (7.30pm).

Bristol: L Arscott; L Robinson, L Eves, J Fatialofa, T Arscott; A Jarvis, J Spice; A Clarke, R Johnson, W Thompson, R Winters (capt), N Budgett, I Grieve, J Merriman, D Montagu. Reps: O Hayes, D Crompton, M Sambucetti, J Brown, S Alford, M Davies, D Norton, J Phillips, B Bedes, M Vunipola, G Watkins.

Clifton (from) - Backs: A Jones, K Cook, O Sacco, A Bell, J Golledge, D Venn, P Alex, G Price, S Kent, A Lloyd. Forwards: L Glass, S Wilkes, B Purbrook, B Glynn, D Barry, D Cook, D Taylor, H Tovey, H Mace, P Schmid, M Attwood, S McGrath.