Before Sunday, Gloucester had not won at Wasps in 18 years (Getty)

Gloucester head coach Dean Ryan says his players are confounding the pundits who claim they cannot win big matches.

"This group's had a lot of unfair criticism," Ryan told BBC Radio Gloucs. "We've always said we're learning."

Sunday's 25-17 victory at Wasps put the Cherry and Whites back at the summit of the Guinness Premiership table.

"We've been top of the league for most of the season," added Ryan. "Yet we get an unjustified amount of criticism that we can't win these types of games."

Victory over Bath at Kingsholm on Saturday would give Gloucester a home semi-final in the play-offs. And Ryan believes that his team are becoming capable of delivering the goods in this kind of contest.

"If you can compete at this level more regularly then you might get something out of it," he said. "There are fine margins against the best sides. And, up until now, most of those fine margins have been blown by ourselves but we're learning, getting a little bit better.

"We're still not the finished article by a long way.

"We can't say we're a side which has learned everything when we're still so young, but we're not doing a bad job on the way.

"We beat Wasps in their own backyard after they won eight games on the trot.

"The last time they lost was against us after they'd won five games on the trot so I reckon we're doing all right."