GLOUCESTER will face Irish side Connacht on Sunday in the first of possibly two play-off matches for a place in next season's European Champions Cup.

It will be a repeat of this season's European Challenge Cup quarter-final between the two sides in which Gloucester won 14-7 before claiming the title and, with it, a chance to play in the bigger Continental tournament.

The match will take place at Kingsholm with a 3.30pm kick-off this Sunday and the Cherry and Whites need to bounce back after defeat to rivals Bath at The Rec on Saturday in the Aviva Premiership where they went down by 50-30.

However, with one eye on Sunday's bigger clash and with nothing to play for on Saturday, director of rugby David Humphreys rested many of his big guns.

And Humprheys' hand was tied by the three suspensions the club have suffered - back rows Ross Moriarty and Matt Kvesic plus centre Bill Meakes - for last Saturday.

Gloucester were expecting to play Edinburgh in the play-off between them and the seventh-placed Guinness Pro12 side from the Celtic League which would have been a repeat of the Challenge Cup final.

However, the Scotsmen lost two crucial matches at Newport Gwent Dragons and at Murrayfield to Leinster which enabled Connacht to claim the seventh Pro12 spot by two points.

And although Gloucester are likely to be favourites to repeat their previous win over Connacht on Sunday, Humphreys is keen to play down the tag, with the winners of the tie facing one of France's Top 14 sides in another play-off at the end of the month for the final Champions Cup place..

He said: ""Playing Connacht will be a huge challenge for us. When Connacht came to Kingsholm the last time, they performed pretty well.

"They are now a completely different team to what they were 18 months ago. In terms of recruitment they have brought in some very good players.

"We're under no illusions as to the challenge that lies ahead. It's one we are looking forward to it with enthusiasm.

"The next two games are very significant to the club in the context of next season but we know that if we play well at the level we can play, we will enjoy the next couple of weeks."

Humphreys also said it was good to play his developing players against Bath, saying: "It you look at the game, there were some very encouraging signs to it.

"Some of our young players got their first experience of Premiership rugby at a difficult place to come and play."