Paul Hull has told his Bristol Rugby players that they are no longer underdogs and must get used to being favourites again – and quickly.

Bristol have already won as many league matches this season – two – as they did in the whole of the 2008-09 and have taken nine points from a possible 10 so far.

But they have laboured to victories over both London Welsh and Birmingham & Solihull – and head coach Hull wants his side to get used to the fact they are now a major scalp.

Bristol face Rotherham at the Memorial Stadium in the Championship on Sunday – and victory will set them perfectly for their triple-header against high-flying Bedford, Exeter and Cornish Pirates.

"We had a good open meeting on Tuesday and said 'look, we've won our first four games, including pre-season, but we haven't been happy with our performances, so let's talk about how we can rectify that'," said Hull.

"We're not underdogs anymore in the Premiership – we are now firm favourites to win matches and we've got to get used to that.

"We've also got to get used to the fact the opposition will raise their game to play the team coming down from the Premiership. Straight away they are going to have that buzz – and we have to deal with that.

"We've spoken about the mental side and we've had a really good week with a couple of tough days for the players. Now I think we're back on the right track mentally with the right attitude."

Hull also wants his side to capitalise more ruthlessly when they find themselves in winning positions.

They led 15-3 after 15 minutes at Birmingham & Solihull – but were unable to build on their early supremacy and ended up battling their way to a 40-36 victory.

"We started really well against Birmingham – but, for some strange reason, we took our foot off the pedal, which was disappointing," said Hull. "We've got to power right through, we've got to keep playing. You can't stop playing just because you think you might have the game sewn up inside the first 10 minutes – that's never going to be the case. We've got to play right through and that's what we have talked about this week."

Hull will rest full-back Tom Arscott and winger Lee Robinson for Sunday's match, with Luke Arscott and Mat Turner likely to come into the starting line-up.

Bristol RUgby (from) – Backs: L Arscott, M Turner, L Eves, J Fatialofa, D Norton, J Adams, A Jarvis, M Davies, J Spice, R Shaw, J Tovey. Forwards: A Clarke, D Blaney, R Johnson, D Crompton, W Thompson, M Sambucetti, R Winters, B Bedes, J Phillips, I Grieve, J Merriman, R Pennycook, M Irish.