ANDY Robinson may have more pressing priorities than the European Challenge Cup as Bristol look to get a first Aviva Premiership victory of the season and get out of the relegation dogfight.

But the director of rugby will relish a return to the ground where he spent his entire playing career as Bristol face their arch rivals Bath at The Rec on Thursday night.

The European Challenge Cup pool game will be first of four clashes between the teams this year – twice in Europe and twice in the Premiership.

Bristol have a huge game on Friday week against Sale Sharks, one they must win if they are to avoid the drop.

But it is first things first and the European game which will see new signing, former England international Shane Geraghty, make his debut for Bristol at fly-half.

Robinson said: “I think he (Geraghty) will fit in really well. He went to school at Colstons (Bristol) so he knows the area reasonably well and has played well for London Irish. He was a bit in and out with them last season but I think he is a player who has a lot of talent and we will see how it goes.”

Geraghty needs match fitness, though, and Robinson added: “We have to get him involved as soon as possible. We have an A League game on Monday and this game tonight (Thursday) and we expect him to be involved in both games.”

As for the game, Robinson said: “I coached Edinburgh at Bath in a pre-season game and Bristol there in a pre-season game so I have had a couple of them. So it will be interesting to go back there for a competitive fixture.

“We have to focus on what we are trying to do and it is important to use the emotion of the game and to be as physical as we can.

“With us having this fixture and then the league fixture (Sale) coming up, that is two good opportunities to see how we were going to perform in both.

“The key element for us is to find out as much as we can about Bath on Thursday. The most important thing for us is to get some Premiership wins under our belt and the side which is selected for this weekend’s game will be looking ahead to the following week against Sale to ensure we play well in both these games.”