Barkley close to return to action

Olly Barkley says the club are in better shape than when we was last there

Bath's England fly-half Olly Barkley is now hoping to return to training in three weeks after fracturing his leg in pre-season.

The 27-year-old was at a training camp in Portugal with the team at the end of July when the injury happened.

"I've started running on a spring-loaded floor which is the last progression before I start running on a field," Barkley told BBC Radio Bristol.

"Hopefully in the next couple of weeks I can put my boots back on."

Barkley only returned to the club in the close season after 12 months at West Country rivals Gloucester and has noticed a change in that time.

"It's definitely more organised at the moment," he said. "Everything from training to the way the medical team is structured.

"The recruitment we've had in, I think we've signed some really good players this year.

"The chief exec and performance director seem to be going in the right direction. I definitely think the club's moved forward in the last few months."

Without Barkley, Bath have got off to bad start, losing their first two league fixtures to currently sit at the bottom of the fledgling Guinness Premiership table.

But they have a chance to do something about it when they head to Edgeley Park, Stockport to take on Sale on Friday night.

"It's a narrow pitch up there," said Barkley, "so it's generally a pretty physical game because there's not a huge amount of space.

"Charlie Hodgson will steer them around from 10 and they'll play a lot of field position so it's up to us to nullify their breakdown.

"We need to apply ourselves a bit better when the situation arises and it's about making the right decisions at those times and, at the minute, we're not doing that."