Leicester Tigers No 8 Thomas Waldrom believes denying Ulster a losing bonus point at Welford Road on Saturday could be crucial come the end of the Heineken Cup Pool stage.
The former European Champions backed up their victory against Aironi with a 20 v 9 win over Ulster. And in what Waldrom believes will be a tight Pool 4, denying the visitors a bonus point could all-important.
"It could be important. It is a tough competition and the main thing is coming away with the result we were after," Waldrom told the Leicester Mercury.
"It could be a close group and we missed out on a bonus point in Aironi.
"Keeping sides like Ulster to no losing bonus point is important. We have shown some promise defensively but we have let ourselves down at times as well.
"We knew we had to sort that out and worked very hard in those areas in the days leading up to the Ulster game.
"This was a one-off game but we have to build from here.
"We just put it down to the guys working hard in training and putting a lot of pressure on us, and that definitely helps. The team ethic is that we all want to do well for the club."
Tigers now take a break from European competition and Waldrom is hoping they continue their recent form of five games unbeaten in the televised trip to Kingsholm on Saturday.
It is a ground Tigers have not won at since September 2008.
"We don't like where we are in the table and we know it is going to be tough down there in front of the Shed," he said.
"But we will do our homework on them and hopefully get the result we are after.
"There will be no resting on our laurels. We have to do the right things every week and we do that by working hard in training and keeping our standards high.
"It was important to put on a good show for the supporters at Welford Road last week.
"All the players love them, they are an amazing bunch and we owed them one after the London Irish game."