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Search forGloucester lock Brown delivers Bristol warning
Thursday, November 20, 2008, 22:13
Bristolian Brown left his hometown club for Gloucester in 2003 – and is well aware of the danger they can cause.
Richard Hill's side claimed their first Guinness Premiership win of the season in beating Northampton 14-13 five days ago but remain bottom of the table.
But lock Brown has urged Gloucester's players to guard against complacency in this evening's derby.
"They are a team who have been struggling all season to find some form, but they have actually come pretty close to winning most of their games," said Brown.
"The Northampton game will have given them a bit more hope and belief, because that was the first time in the Premiership this season they have managed to grind out a win.
"We are well aware that their confidence will be high, they will be full of beans and they will be fearless – and we have to make sure we are not in any way complacent.
"They will come here with nothing to lose and that makes them a very dangerous team to play against.
"Sometimes you would actually rather play the top teams."
Brown, who remains a regular spectator at Bristol's home matches, is hoping Gloucester can build on the return to form they hinted at in beating Saracens at Vicarage Road on Sunday.
After struggling to victories against Newport Gwent Dragons and Newcastle in the EDF Energy Cup, Dean Ryan's men hit back with a 25-21 win at Saracens, playing some of their best rugby of the season in the process.
"We were delighted with both the result and the performance at Saracens," said Brown.
"We had been grinding out some wins, but they had been ugly wins and we weren't very proud of the way we played in those.
"But that win against Saracens saw us play like the team we all know we can be. We need to keep that going now, although we know it won't be easy against Bristol."
Gloucester have brought fit-again No 8 Luke Narraway and winger Matthew Watkins into the side for tonight's game, with Alasdair Strokosch, who is on Test duty, and Lesley Vainikolo dropping out.
And despite admitting Bristol will cause his side problems, Gloucester fly-half Ryan Lamb does not expect them to have enough to claim victory.
"Bristol are a good side with a big pack and lots of experienced heads – we have to be wary of them," said Lamb.
"But I think we have got enough fire-power to win the game, especially at home.
"We played well at Saracens and if we can get two good wins against Bristol and Northampton then we will really head into the next Heineken Cup period in a strong position."
With frontline scrum- halves Rory Lawson and Gareth Cooper unavailable, teenager Dave Lewis continues in the No 9 shirt with 18-year-old Jordi Pasqualin providing the cover.
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