DEAN RICHARDS has warned his Newcastle Falcons players not to take anything for granted ahead of Saturday’s home game with the Aviva Premiership’s basement boys Bristol.

Bristol are still searching for their first league victory since winning promotion from the Championship last season, with their losing bonus point from their opening-day defeat to Harlequins representing their only point from their opening five games.

Their last three matches, against Wasps, Exeter and Saracens, have seen them ship a cumulative total of 150 points, but Richards claims the standard of the opposition is a mitigating factor in the heavy defeats.

“The outside expectation is that we’ll win and win comfortably, but you can’t expect that and you can’t prepare for that,” said the Falcons director of rugby. “If you look at their results, they’ve played against a totally different set of teams than we’ve played against.

“Three of those are probably going to finish in the top three this year – Saracens, Exeter and Wasps. They’ve been thumped by each of those three, but they’re going to be far more competitive than people think.”

Falcons have won two of their opening five league games, beating Sale and Gloucester, and might also have added victories over Leicester and Worcester had a couple of key decisions in each game gone their way.

They look a much more formidable proposition than was the case last season, with a beefed-up pack ensuring they are competitive up front and a stable backline reaping the benefits from a summer of limited upheaval.

They are currently eighth in the table, but could find themselves sitting in the top half if they see off Bristol in the final league game before the Premiership takes a break for the start of European competition.

“We’re doing alright,” said Richards. “We’ve won two out of the five so far, and should have won another two. Had we won those, then we would have been ecstatic.

“The team is progressing, without a doubt. They players are enjoying the style of rugby we’re playing, and the beauty is that when they didn’t win against Worcester and Leicester, they’re disappointed.

“We’re picking up points most games and we’re doing reasonably well. We just need to make sure that we nail this week, finish this batch of games positively, and then we’ll be reasonably happy.”

Richards has welcomed Olympic sevens medallist Marcus Watson back into full training this week, and is happy with the way in which his squad has coped with some early-season injury setbacks.

“We’ve had our fair share of injuries – losing Adam Powell for the season, Niki Goneva, Nili Latu - but we’ve got far more competition in the squad, and thanks to our recruitment, I think we’ve got a better squad than we had last year.

“People can slot into these spots much more effectively. If we have to drop somebody in, it’s not an earthquake at all.”