Nelson scored the Exiles’ second try in last Saturday’s 23-17 win over his former club Bristol at Old Deer Park, with Lyn Jones’ side having ended Rotherham’ unbeaten home record in the Championship the previous week.

Those results came on the back of a disappointing festive period for the Exiles at home, as they were held by Esher before going down to Moseley.

“We’ve got a hard month coming up going into the play-offs and with the confidence from Rotherham and Bristol we’ve put ourselves in a good position to go forwards,” said Nelson.

“Going into the play-offs we know we can play well and we know we can beat these teams. It’s just a case of getting everything right and doing what we’ve been told to do. But there’s a lot of work to go in between now and then.”

Welsh trailed Championship leaders Bristol 10-3 at half-time, but for the second consecutive week produced an inspired second half display, with tries from Hudson Tonga’uiha and Nelson inflicting a first league defeat on Bristol since November 5.

“It’s nice to score against your old club – it’s always a good one,” said Nelson, who spent eight years at Bristol before arriving at Old Deer Park via Exeter Chiefs.

“The boys dug in up at Rotherham in the second half, and the confidence we got from that showed against Bristol.

“We were down again at half-time, but the boys didn’t panic, we knew where we had to attack them and we played well with minimal errors.

“We knew we had to be accurate and in the second half we started to get the upper hand in and around the forwards. The penalties and the field position came, and we got the tries.

“There was no panicking, which is good because it shows the boys know their jobs, and when that clicks there’s no need to panic in situations like that.”

Nelson, though, is at odds to explain how the Exiles have gone from taking just three points from their home games against Esher and Moseley over the festive period to beating the league leaders and becoming the first side to win at Clifton Lane this season in the Championship.

“We know as a group that we massively underperformed against Esher and Moseley when they came to Old Deer Park, but we worked hard and when we came together we just said it’s down to us to perform,” he said.

“We didn’t against Esher and we didn’t against Moseley. Those were games where we were expected to pick up ten points, but to be fair to those teams they played well and we weren’t at the top of our game.”

With the British & Irish Cup quarter-finals taking centre stage next weekend, the Exiles can put their feet up before they travel to the Cornish Pirates on January 29. But while the chance for a weekend off may be welcome, there’s no let up in the work with the play-offs looming ever large.

“There are a few battered bodies and some of the boys are quite happy for the weekend off, but we’ve a tough conditioning week coming up so there’s no rest,” he said.

Cowan-Dickie, who only turned 18 in June, is given the number one shirt after impressing director of rugby Peter Drewett with his performance as a half-time replacement at Rotherham last week.

"It is a big moment for Luke, but he thoroughly deserves it," said Drewett.

The Cornish youngster, dual registered from Exeter Chiefs, missed the start of the season due to a knee injury he picked up on tour with England Under-18s in August. Last Saturday’s appearance at Clifton Lane was Cowan-Dickie’s debut for Albion.

Albion are expecting their biggest crowd of the season for tomorrow’s West Country clash. Last year’s game at Brickfields between Albion and Bristol attracted nearly 5,000 spectators.

And boss Drewett will no doubt be hoping his team respond to the occassion and secure their first win in five games and their first under their new director of rugby.

Last season, Albion and Bristol played out a thriller at Brickfields with the game going down to the last kick of the match. Bristol narrowly won 20-19 after Albion missed a drop-goal in front of the posts right at the death.

Albion: 15 James Love, 14 Mick McGrath, 13 Bevon Armitage, 12 Keni Fisilau, 11 Steve Johns, 10 Mark Lee, 9 Ruairi Cushion, 1 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 2 Gareth Evans, 3 Ryan Hopkins, 4 Tyler Hotson, 5 Sean-Michael Stephen (capt), 6 Herbie Stupple, 7 Wayne Sprangle, 8 Aaron Carpenter. Reps: 16 Rupert Freestone, 17 David Morton, 18 Rob Dugard, 19 Addison Lockley, 20 Paul Rowley, 21 Paul Bailey, 22 Sam Hocking

The Cornish side have not yet beaten ‘Bris’ away in a Championship match, so there’ll be a deep desire among both the players and the coaching staff to start putting the records straight in a contest that deserves a label as ‘game of the month’.

Skipper Gavin Cattle returns to the side having sat on the bench away to Munster in the British & Irish Cup, and his partner at fly-half will be a fit again Ceiron Thomas.

The selection is a strong one, and includes flanker Chris Morgan who led the team so well in Ireland. Chris, who made his 100th appearance for the Pirates in their last successful Championship outing at home to Rotherham Titans, will also have incentive to help record a win at the Memorial Stadium, having played for Bristol in the past.

Also included on an impressive looking ‘bench’ is experienced prop Alan Paver, who’ll be keen for a return to action following an injury suffered when playing in the Premiership on loan at Exeter Chiefs.

Cornish Pirates: R. Cook, G. Pointer, D. Locke, A. Suniula, D. Doherty, C. Thomas, G. Cattle (capt), K. Marriott, P. Burgess, C. Morgan, I. Nimmo, L. McGlone, C. Rimmer, D. Ward, R. Storer.

Replacements: P. Andrew, R. Elloway, A. Paver, C. Walker-Blair, B. Cowan, T. Kessell, M. Evans.
For those supporters unable to travel to Bristol on Sunday, it is worth noting that the match is being covered ‘live’ on Pirates TV. For further details please visit www.cornish-pirates.com

Centre, Andy Reay, who captains the side again tomorrow said that the players had been bitterly disappointed to lose at Plymouth after leading for most of the match. “Although Bristol will be a big test,” he said, “we will be hoping to maintain our recent improvements in performance and give our supporters something to cheer”.

Starting 15: 01. Tom WARREN; 02.Adam CAVES; 03. Craig VOISEY; 04.David LYONS; 05.Dan SANDERSON; 06.Neil MASON; 07.Michael ELLERY; 08.Chevvy PENNYCOOK; 09. Ryan GLYNN; 10. Bradley DAVIES; 11. William ROBINSON; 12.Andy REAY; 13. Greg KING; 14.Brad HUNT; 15. Anthony CARTER

Replacements: 16. Anthony O’DONNELL;17. Charley THOMAS; 18. Richard STOTT; 19. Marshall GADD; 20. Michael MALTMAN; 21. Sam BROWN; 22 Oliver THOMAS.

Liam Middleton will be expecting a reaction from the players after last weekend’s disappointing defeat at Clifton Lane.

The Head Coach makes four changes in the forwards, with Mark Irish, Wayne Thompson, Roy Winters and Marco Mama earning starts.

Tristan Roberts and Fautua Otto miss out after failing late fitness tests, so Matty James continues at fly-half in an unchanged backline.

In the front row, Wayne Thompson makes his third league start of the season alongside Mark Irish and Ross Johnston. James Merriman recovers from a toe injury to retain his place in the back row, while Marco Mama is preferred to Josh Ovens.

The replacements bench sees a four forwards and three backs split, with Matt Williams returning to the 22-man squad after a three-week absence.

Bristol Rugby team to face Moseley at Billesley Common on Saturday 5 November (3pm KO):

Sean Marsden; George Watkins, Jack Tovey, Junior Fatialofa, Jon Goodridge; Matty James, Tom Slater; Mark Irish, Ross Johnston, Wayne Thompson, Mariano Sambucetti, Roy Winters, Marco Mama, James Merriman, Iain Grieve (c).

Replacements: Rhys Lawrence, Darren Crompton, Darren Barry, Josh Ovens, Louis Silver, Mark Davies, Matt Williams.

There are three changes in the back line which sees Steve Hamilton start at outside centre, replacing Elliott Brierley, who had a fine game at Moseley. The half back combination of Garry Law and Jimmy Williams will return to the fray, in place of Cliffie Hodgson and Matt Rhodes.

In the pack Ted Stagg returns for Dan Baines at hooker and there’s a welcome return for fans favourites Sam Dickinson and Sean Dougall. The former starts at lock for Barney Maddison while the latter returns at open side flanker for last week’s star man Carl Kirwan.

Bristol will no doubt provide a stern test for the South Yorkshire side as they currently sit top of the pile with 7 wins from 8 matches played. Their only defeat came earlier in the season with the narrowest of defeats away to Leeds. Bristol can also boast to having the best defence in the Championship, having conceded just 128 points so far.

The overall league head to head between the sides sees Bristol hold a slender 6-4 advantage, although Rotherham achieved the league double over Bristol last term. Head Coach Andre Bester recognises what a difficult challenge Bristol will present but believes his charges are up for the task, Bester said, “Bristol are the leaders, but so were Bedford and London Welsh! But there’s absolutely no doubt Bristol are a good side, you don’t get there being a bad side. Bristol have consistency and they win matches and they win the close matches.

“They had a narrow loss away to Leeds earlier in the season, but they have learnt from that experience and kicked on. So there’s no doubt that Bristol are a very good side, exceptionally experienced and although they have brought some new guys in, they do have continuity.

“Bristol are one of the most traditional clubs in English rugby with exceptional history behind them. They have to carry the burden of that history around with them, because a club like that with the support they have should not be in the Championship, they should be in the Premiership.

“It’s our job however not to let them continue their charge on our watch. For us the important thing is this match, we know they want to come here and put one over on us and we will be ready for that challenge. But we know that is going to be tough because they are a good abrasive side who are very direct and can play the total game.Whether it’s a tight game or a loose game they can do everything very well.

“But we’ve worked very hard in training this week; I don’t believe the boys have worked as hard all season in preparation of this game. And for us, it’s about winning this match and us taking the points.”

Rotherham Titans: 15 Tom Foden, 14 Ed Tellwright, 13 Steve Hamilton, 12 Pale Nonu, 11 Shane Monahan, 10 Garry Law, 9 Jimmy Williams, 1 Jamie Kilbane, 2 Ted Stagg, 3 Rob O’Donnell, 4 Sam Dickinson (Capt.),5 Adrian Griffiths, 6 Robin Copeland, 7 Sean Dougall, 8 Semisi Taulava.

Replacements From: 16 Dan Baines, 17 Shane Cahill, 18 Ben Hooper, 19 Barney Maddison, 20 Carl Kirwan, 21 Matt Rhodes, 22 Cliffie Hodgson, 23 Ben Harris, 24 Elliott Brierley.

The Exiles led from first minute to last at the Memorial Stadium in front of the live Sky Sports cameras, only to lose 35-33 to Jack Tovey’s converted injury-time try.

Last Friday’s loss was the second time this season Welsh have found themselves on the end of a painful late defeat – the other coming at the hands of Bedford in the British & Irish Cup when the Blues claimed victory from the game’s last play.

“Those type of experiences can make you bigger, better and stronger and we will come back bigger and better from such disappointments,” said Jones. “The secret of success is how you deal with those disappointments.”

Welsh were given the perfect start against Bristol when Rob Lewis dived over in the first minute and further tries from Hudson Tonga’uiha and Edd Thrower saw them lead 23-10 at the break.

Ed Jackson crossed for his eighth of try of the season but it wasn’t enough as two tries from George Watkins kept the home side in touch and Tovey provided the late sting.

“It’s funny how disappointed you can be in defeat, but at the same time be really pleased with the effort and accuracy of our play,” said Jones.

“The players worked really hard, but didn’t get their just rewards. We really leaked some cheap points and Bristol must be wondering how they won that.

“Our contact work was good and our lineout work was good. We suffered a little in the scrum area.”

Welsh had gone into the game keen to wipe out the memory of a disappointing performance against Rotherham at Old Deer Park, which saw the Exiles go down 33-25.

“Losing to Rotherham was a shock to us and obviously things needed to be addressed and we went about it in a workmanlike manner, and I’m just disappointed for the players,” added Jones.

“We were disappointed against Rotherham but what was important is that we turned up at Bristol. We did turn up and we delivered and we performed well, but not always the best team wins.”

The Exiles’ defeat at home to Rotherham last weekend saw Bristol leapfrog Welsh at the top of the table following their away win at Esher. All of which steps up an intriguing clash on Friday.

London Welsh head coach Lyn Jones makes six changes for trip to the Memorial Stadium, which includes a new centre pairing in Simon Whatling and Hudson Tonga’uia, who take the place of Paul Mackey and Seb Jewell.

Rob Lewis comes in for Ben Stevenson at scrum half, while there’s one change in the front row with on loan Wasps prop Guillermo Roan taking over from Shawn Pittman, who drops to the bench.

There are two other changes in the forwards with Martin Purdy replacing Matt Corker in the second row, and Mike Denbee taking over the number seven jersey from Michael Hills.

Like Pittman, Corker and Jewell also move to the bench where Jones has gone for a five-two split between forwards and backs.

The last time Welsh visited the Memorial Ground they came away with a 36-14 win in the 2010/11 play-offs – one of three wins the Exiles enjoyed over Bristol last season.
London Welsh: 15. Edd Thrower, 14. Will Hurrell, 13. Hudson Tonga’uiha*, 12. Simon Whatling, 11. Liam Gibson, 10. Gordon Ross*, 9. Rob Lewis, 1. Guillermo Roan, 2. Dan George, 3. Greg Bateman, 4. Adam Brown, 5. Martin Purdy, 6. Jon Mills ©, 7. Mike Denbee, 8. Ed Jackson.

Replacements: 16. Saul Nelson, 17. Billy Moss, 18. Shawn Pittman*, 19. Matt Corker, 20. Lee Beach, 21. Jack Moates, 22. Seb Jewell.

* Denotes full international

The Canada World Cup star could not stop Esher crashing to a seventh straight league defeat in a 20-6 home reverse against league leaders Bristol last Saturday.

That leaves the Surrey club rooted to the foot of the Championship and still hunting a bonus point with a tough trip to Cornish Pirates next up on Sunday.

But Mackenzie was impressed with the never-say-die attitude against Bristol and believes a top-eight spot is still achievable even though they are already 13 points off that coveted spot.

Mackenzie, who played at centre despite a suffering from stomach bug after arriving in England only 48 hours earlier, said: “We definitely still feel we can get out of the bottom four.

“There’s still tons of rugby to be played so hopefully we’ll turn things around sooner than later.

“You can’t coach heart and I think Esher has got that in spades so hopefully with our heart, and if we play a little smarter, we can start winning games.

“With a few guys coming back from injury, and if we keep building on our recent performances, then anything is possible. We’ve got to go down there with the attitude that we can win.”

Esher’s desperate injury crisis has started to ease with Mark Atkinson, Clive Stuart-Smith and Tom Cheeseman returning while Mackenzie and brother Jamie are back from World Cup duty.

Now Mackenzie hopes Esher can continue to build on two impressive defensive displays against Rotherham and Bristol.

He said: “From what I have heard, we are improving week by week which obviously is a positive sign. We’ve had so many injuries, it’s unbelievable. But the guys are stepping in and doing a good job and hopefully things turn around soon.

“The likes of Clive-Stuart Smith and Tom Cheeseman are huge influences on the game and it’s good to have them involved again. The more we get back the better we’ll do.”

But Mackenzie insists discipline must improve if Esher are to stand a chance at third-placed Cornish Pirates.

Esher had Mike Blakeburn and Robin Boot sin-binned against Bristol and the visitors scored a try in both periods with the home side down to 14.

Mackenzie said: “Discipline is the first thing we have to improve. You can’t get away with two yellows. It’s tough to play when you are down for 14 men for 20 minutes, especially against a side like Bristol. They are always going to make you pay and they did with two tries in that time.

“But our defence was generally good. There were just two mental lapses that really cost us when we were a man down.”

Mackenzie hopes to soon be back in the form that saw him score two tries for Canada in World Cup victories over Tonga and a draw with Japan after struggling with a bug against Bristol.

He admitted: “I didn’t feel great going into the game but obviously I wanted to play. My brother and I got in Thursday morning, trained Thursday night and but I was actually was pretty sick Thursday and Friday.

“I seemed to have caught some bug and I was up all night and feeling pretty bad. But it was up to me whether I started and I managed to push through it so it turned out all right.”

15 Rob Kirby

14 Sam Edgerley

13 Phil Mackenzie

12 Tom Cheeseman

11 Tom Loizides

10 Mark Atkinson

9 Clive Stuart – Smith

1 Ollie Mines

2 Stuart Mackie

3 Robin Boot

4 Perry Parker

5 Mike Blakeburn

6 Mike Macfarlane

7 Sam Stitcher

8 Chris Goodman

Replacements

16 James Gethings

17 Shawn Renwick

18 Kevin Corrigan

19 Peter Synnott

20 Andy Wright

21Richard Mill

22 Jamie Mackenzie

23 John Downey

24 Joe Brown