Bristol Bears head coach Dave Ward says they cannot complain if they miss out on a play-off spot as the team have had their "opportunities" this season.

The Bears are still fifth in the Premiership Women's Rugby table after an unexpected 31-22 defeat by Loughborough Lightning last Saturday, with just two games to go.

They remain in the fight for a top four spot but need other results to go their way to achieve it and face Exeter this weekend who are a place and two points above them also with a game in hand.

"It's down to us, we've had our opportunities, we've missed them," Ward told BBC Radio Bristol.

"Exeter have had their opportunities as well so it's going to be a huge game on Saturday and one we need to make sure we're ready for."

The visit of Exeter to Ashton Gate is Bristol's final home match this campaign before a trip to Harlequins on 14 February, with the club on a bye week during the final weekend of games a week later.

As well as the Loughborough loss the Bears were also narrowly beaten 39-38 by Trailfinders in the previous week.

"It [Loughborough] was a huge opportunity missed," Ward said

"You look at the stats and obviously stats are not always the key indicator but we had every stat in the world going for us apart from points scored. We created the chances the fact we didn't finish them again is a bit of the story of our season.

"The fact we've created the chances is a huge positive for us to hold onto."