They are the only club to have taken maximum points from their four matches, they are eight points clear of Agen and are home at the Recreation Ground for their Pool 4 contests in the New Year against the French club and Bucharest Wolves.

The 2008 tournament champions and 1998 Heineken Cup winners now have the target of finishing as the top seeds from the five groups and so drawn against the least successful of the group winners in the last eight - avoiding any of the Heineken Cup runners-up in the process.

"We take this competition very seriously," said Bath head coach Gary Gold. "We want to play Heineken Cup rugby and this is one of the routes to that goal.

"The way the draw works it is important to give ourselves the best chance and to have a 'full house' of points would do just that. But we have not achieved anything yet and there is still a lot of work to do - we are only around halfway there.

"If you do get another Pool winner they are still a group winner but they are not a Heineken Cup runner-up and hopefully we can earn home ground advantage at the Rec."

Match Facts

• Bath have won 13 consecutive Amlin Challenge Cup matches. They won nine on their way to winning the 2008 final and have a 100% record this season.
• Agen have won three of their last five Amlin Challenge Cup matches but fell to Bath and in one of the shocks of the season so far, lost to Bucharest Wolves.
• Bath's Horacio Agulla has five tries in this competition this term, only Adrien Planté of Perpignan has more (6).
• Only two players (David Paice and Luigi Ferraro) have delivered more successful lineout throws than Brett Sharman this season. 31 of his 33 throws have found a teammate.