It has become widely accepted that Bath play the most attractive rugby in the Guinness Premiership – but now Michael Lipman wants them to add an extra degree of know-how to their game.

Having led – and been dominant – at both Toulouse and Leicester this season, only to eventually suffer agonising late defeats, the Bath skipper has challenged his team to switch from "Bath rugby to Test match rugby" when they find themselves in such positions in the future.

Last weekend's defeat at Leicester was difficult to take for Bath, who had led 22-9 with 20 minutes to play, only to go down 24-22 after failing to keep hold of the ball in the closing minutes.

And with Wasps visiting the Recreation Ground today, the England flanker is eyeing the ideal opportunity to make up for last weekend's slip-up and maintain the pressure on London Irish and Gloucester at the top of the Premiership.

"We went 22-9 up with 20 minutes to go – and if you want to be a championship team, you've got to win those games," said Lipman.

"You can't lose those leads. If you get out to a 13-point lead against Leicester – or anyone – you've got to be able to keep it. We're addressing that at the moment and we're looking at strategies during the game where we can shut the game down, so to speak.

"We'll be a lot better come finals time, and in some ways, what happened is a good thing – because we know we can be beaten and we'll learn not to do that again in the same situation. If you are going to take any positive from that game – other than that we played all the rugby – that's the positive we can take."

Bath outscored their hosts by three tries to two last weekend, with Butch James and Joe Maddock combining brilliantly for a try-of-the-season contender that summed up their attacking intent.

But Lipman believes they may need to curb some of their instincts if they arrive at a similar position in big matches further down the line.

"Sometimes I think we need to switch from Bath rugby – which is great rugby – to Test match rugby," said Lipman.

"By that I mean no mistakes rugby. It's about finding that balance and knowing what to do and when – and that is something that will come for us, I'm sure. In the next few months we'll be working on that."

Champions Wasps arrive at Bath today having won just four of their 11 Premiership matches all season – and their seven defeats include a home drubbing against Bath in October.

Steve Meehan's side scored four tries at Adams Park that night, although their achievements barely merited a mention as much of the publicity around the match centred on Danny Cipriani's comeback from injury. "We were very happy to play a part in that game," said Meehan this week.

But for all their stuttering at the start of the season, Wasps have won five of their last six matches in all competitions and were 24-18 victors over Harlequins last weekend.

"Wasps are just finding their form," said Lipman. "I think they're a very, very good team. They're well balanced, well coached and they will be very hard to beat.

"We will not be taking them at all lightly, that is for certain. Their position in the table doesn't matter at all – Wasps are a dangerous team and have been for years.

"If you take them lightly, they will knock you off and I think they are coming into some great form at the moment."

Eliota Fuimaono, Matt Banahan, Michael Claassens, Lee Mears, Matt Stevens, Justin Harrison and Lipman all return to the Bath starting line-up in place of Shontayne Hape, Andrew Higgins, Scott Bemand, Pieter Dixon, Duncan Bell, Peter Short and James Scaysbrook.

Bath: N Abendanon; J Maddock, A Crockett, E Fuimaono, M Banahan; B James, M Claassens; D Barnes, L Mears, M Stevens, J Harrison, S Hooper, A Beattie, M Lipman (capt), D Browne. Reps: P Dixon, D Bell, J Fa'amatuainu, J Scaysbrook, S Bemand, S Berne, J Cuthbert.

Wasps: M van Gisbergen; P Sackey, D Waldouck, R Flutey, T Voyce; D Cipriani, E Reddan; T Payne, R Webber, P Vickery (capt), D Leo, R Birkett, H Ellis, S Betsen, J Haskell. Reps: J Ward, T Lindsay, T French, W Matthews, J Simpson, D Walder, J Lewsey.