Gloucester head coach Dean Ryan expects the tussle for the Premiership play-off places to be unresolved until the final round of matches next month.

Midweek wins for Bath and Wasps have kept up the pressure on the Cherry and Whites at the top of the division.

"It makes the season very compressed and the play-offs very compressed," Ryan told BBC Radio Gloucestershire.

"There will probably be three or four positional switches during that last weekend, I would say."

If we're one of the better sides in the Premiership then we've got to prove that over the remaining weeks Dean Ryan

He added: "We've got a home game this week, and then we've got a week's rest. By then we'll know an awful lot more about what we've got to do over the last two games."

Ryan feels there are will be no excuses for failing to beat beat bottom club Leeds at Kingsholm this weekend and consolidate top spot in the Premiership.

Gloucester ran in six tries to beat Saracens last Saturday and their head coach says if the players understand the game plan then the quality of the Gloucester team should do the rest.

"We've got everybody back on deck, we're still at a point when we need hands-on influence from us as coaches and when we don't get that we're not as consistent about what type of game turns up," Ryan added.

"We're back together now and if we're one of the better sides in the Premiership then we've got to prove that over the remaining weeks."