WHETHER they’re at Europe’s top table or not next season, Wasps believe the next step in their development will be the toughest.

They have improved their Aviva Premiership year on year since Dai Young took over three seasons ago and are targeting a top-six finish next season.

But the top four is the end-goal and Young admits breaking up the existing power structure of Saracens, Leicester, Northampton and Harlequins will not be easy.

He said: “We’ve gone from 11th, to eighth to seventh. Whether or not we’re in Europe next season we’re going in the right direction.

“We’ve made marginal gains, they’re not as big as some people might expect from a club like Wasps, but that’s not relevant for me. I can only work with what’s here at this moment in time.

“But the next steps are the important ones and the big ones, and probably the hardest.

“You look at the top four, it’s been same for the last five or six years and it would take a brave man to bet that it wouldn’t be the same top four again next season. It’s hard to break into that.”