Exeter boss Rob Baxter says his side must use the Prem Rugby Cup break as a means to kickstart their league campaign.

The Chiefs go into November’s three-game cup block after winning just one of their five Prem matches, leaving them second-from-bottom of the table.

Exeter, who reached last season’s PRC final, begin their campaign with the visit of Bath to Sandy Park on Saturday.

“At some stage we are going to have to put our foot on the pedal and gain some momentum and that opportunity is now,” Baxter told BBC Sport.

“We can start that process now and add to that as we come out of the Prem Cup.”

He continued: “We’ve got to step up our points collection when we come out of the Prem Cup because even if other teams are losing you just can’t let the gaps grow and then try and chase it down too much at the end.

“We chased it down pretty well at the end of last season, we put some important back-to-back wins together at the end of last season, but at the moment we are letting ourselves slip a little bit too far at the race.”

Baxter expects to name a changed side for their cup matches.

Winger Paul Brown-Bampoe could feature for the first time this season following summer heel surgery, while new signings such as Andre Goedhals and Carwyn Tuipulotu are in line to make their debuts.

Some of Exeter’s youngsters are also in line to play, including fly-half Ben Coen, who has spent time with Champ side Cornish Pirates.

“We know we’re not far off, there wouldn’t be much for us to have tipped another couple of victories our way, including the game at the weekend against Quins, the game away the week before against Bristol – they’re in the balance for long periods late in the game and we’re just not quite seeing them off,” added Baxter.

“We’ve collected points in every game, that’s important and that’s certainly keeping us in touch with the middle of the table which is the minimum where you want to be at this stage of the season, so I know we’re okay.

“But if we can have a level of performances through this period now, obviously as some players get some rest, we heal up some little niggly injuries, get a couple of very important senior players back and injury free, I would like to think we could come out of this part of the season with some momentum and some freshness and get ready to attack that middle block of the season.”