Attwood's form for Gloucester has earned him an England Saxons call-up

Gloucester lock Dave Attwood has revealed he still has another year left on his contract, ending fears he will leave this summer.

The 22-year-old joined last year from Bristol on an undisclosed contract and has established himself at lock.

"I signed up for two years when I moved here, so I've got another year," Attwood told BBC Radio Gloucestershire.

"I'm very happy with how things have gone and in retrospect I'm still pleased with the decision."

Attwood's arrival was announced in a batch of four forwards, including Pierre Capdevielle, Darren Dawiduik and Rupert Harden, but the length of his deal, until the summer of 2011, was not revealed at the time.

He has since gone on to play 21 games for Gloucester this season, scoring two tries and establishing himself as first choice in the number four shirt ahead of Marco Bortolami.

The former Gloucester and Italy captain's contract expires this summer and if he does leave Attwood insists he still wants someone to push him all the way for a place in the team.

"With Marco [Bortolami] potentially off, we're going to need get in another second row, a middle jumping lock, so it'll be some new competition," he said.

"That's really what you need at the top of the game, that's what I've found drives me to be better is to try and compete with people of a higher level than myself.

"So to get more people in I welcome that challenge and hopefully we can all build on that."

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