Young: I expect us to win (From Bucks Free Press)

Wasps face pivotal clash against Welsh

10:00am Friday 26th October 2012 in Sport By Alan Feldberg

LONDON Welsh have surprised a few teams this season. They have come up from the Championship and given Exeter and Sale bloody noses.

Saracens and Gloucester only just squeezed past them and so far only champions Harlequins have won the class war at a canter.

None of that washes with Dai Young though, whose Wasps side host the Welsh in the league for the first time ever tomorrow.

He said: “I expect us to win this game, it’s as simple as that. It’s not going to be easy and if we’re not at our best they’ll turn us over.

“But I think if we play to our potential we’ve got too much quality for them.

“I’m not being arrogant by saying that, I just feel that’s where we are.

“If they play to their best and we play to our best, I think we’ve got a little bit more than them.”

However, in Young’s opposite number Lyn Jones, Welsh have a man made to fight his way out of corners. And the Wasps boss knows it too.

He said: “I know Lyn very well and this is the perfect scenario for him.

“He was coaching Neath, who were pretty much the have nots, and he thrives when people write you off and you can get an ‘us against them’ environment.

“He’ll be enjoying this situation, with people saying they’re not good enough.

“He’s an excellent coach and he will certainly get the best out of this London Welsh team. He’ll be looking at this as a game they can win and we’re certainly not taking them lightly.

“They’ve got a real togetherness as a team and their energy and enthusiasm is going to be huge.

“If we underperform they’ll spoil the party.”

For Wasps, a home defeat to Welsh can’t even be contemplated.

Four victories in a row and a real springboard to Saracens is the prize, but returning to the Premiership after two good European wins only to lose to a side below them in the table would burst the bubble conclusively.

Young said: “I don’t know whether it’s the most important game. It’s probably only as important as the game after. That’s what you get in the Premiership, the games come thick and fast.

“It would be nice to get four on the trot.

“But we’re not going to win every game between now and the end of the season so it can’t be a case of shoulders sagging or doubting yourself when you do lose.

“It’s a massive game for us though. It’s a home game and any points dropped at home are exactly that.”