AS A seasoned European campaigner, Dominic Day knows it’s too early to write Bath’s Champions Cup obituary after last weekend’s humbling in Glasgow.

But the former Scarlets man does admit tomorrow’s Rec appointment with French heavyweights Toulouse (3.15pm) does fall into the category of a ‘must-win’ as Bath set about re-establishing their tournament credentials.

While defeat away from home is an occupational hazard at the sharp end of Europe’s top club competition, a reverse on home soil would put a serious dent in their ambitions of making an impact this year.

“I played a lot of European rugby at the Scarlets and just getting an away win is a massive help,’’ said Day.

“But you have to win all your home games. We need our home wins and then we can target our games at Toulouse and Montpellier.

“Toulouse are proven, they’ve won the competition a number of times and they are strong from one to 23. It’s a massive game for the club because we haven’t been in the competition for a couple of years.

“I’ve been keeping my eyes on them for the last few weeks and they are no mugs. At one point they were a couple of places off the bottom (of the Top 14) but they’ve beaten Toulon and Montpellier.’’

Regular lock forward Day was thrust into the unaccustomed role of flanker last weekend as Bath’s back row crisis began to bite and would gladly do so again if asked to fulfil similar duties tomorrow.

“Fordy (Mike Ford) asked me if I was willing to do it and I was champing at the bit to get back into the starting team,’’ he added.

“I like to get around and be athletic. It was a bit different, getting the ball in a bit of space.

“I think it was the first time I had played there since Pembroke U8s! Luckily, with the big squad we’ve got we’ve got boys who are able to step in.’’

Day believes Bath will be better for their chastening experience against Glasgow, adding: “We were very disappointed and there are key lessons for us to learn and we can improve on that.

“Teams like Glasgow, we don’t play week in and week out and they are the sorts of sides that are going to throw something different at you.

“Celtic League teams change the point of attack and they can offload quickly as well. French teams are probably similar.

“That offload game means we need to be there mentally. Europe is a step up from the normal Premiership and Pro 12 games and players who have played both say it’s not far off international rugby.

“We’ve got to pull ourselves together because we have got an even harder game this weekend.’’