Gloucester interim head coach Jonny Bell refused to give up on his side's chances of European Champions Cup qualification for next season after a 39-30 win over Sale at Kingsholm kept them firmly in contention.

The bonus point victory took Gloucester to within a point of both Harlequins and Northampton in the Aviva Premiership table but they will need to overtake at least one of those rivals in the remaining two games to stand any chance of qualifying.

That will not be an easy task as those games are tough assignments, with a visit to Bath before a concluding fixture at home to high-flying Exeter.

Bell said: "We are going to fight tooth and nail in every game to the end of the season but before those remaining Premiership fixtures we have a Challenge Cup semi-final at La Rochelle next week and that's massively exciting for us as we aim to upset the applecart."

Gloucester had made hard work of overcoming a battling Sale to secure a crucial victory but ultimately triumphed as Tom Marshall scored two tries with Henry Trinder, Billy Twelvetrees and Richard Hibbard one apiece. Billy Burns converted four and added two penalties.

Bell said: "I'm delighted with the five points but we always make life difficult by hurting ourselves.

"We scored five excellent tries but we gift-wrapped them three or four easy tries and there were too many fundamental mistakes.

"We've probably played better this season and lost. The replacements made a big impact to get over the line today but there is still plenty to work on."

Sale deservedly picked up a bonus point with tries from Sam James, Mike Phillips Kieran Longbottom and Byron McGuigan. AJ Macginty converted two and kicked two penalties but their director of rugby, Steve Diamond, felt they should have come away with more.

He said: "Our aim was to come down here and score four tries, which we did, but we should have had at least another point.

"The second one was taken away from us in the last minute with a penalty but we couldn't see any off-side for that penalty to be awarded.

"There was a big penalty count against us and I thought the referee got three or four decisions wrong which counted against us.

"We gifted Gloucester tries but they brought on a few experienced players in the last quarter which made the difference.

"We are what we are and our position in the table reflects it. Week in week out, we are inconsistent and we are even inconsistent during the course of games."