Ollie Smith admits the step up to top-flight rugby has proved tougher than many at London Welsh expected.

But the Exiles assistant coach insists they will get the results they need to survive in the Aviva Premiership.

Four heavy defeats from four matches have hardly done wonders for squad morale, but Smith said Welsh had plenty of fight left.

“One thing Justin Burnell (head coach) is fantastic at is making sure players all have the right attitude,” said Smith. “We always knew it was going to be hard.

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“It is a huge step up and probably bigger than a lot of us realised, but we need to keep our heads up.

“If we keep working at it, we are confident that we will get the results we need.”

The Exiles upset the odds to beat Bristol to the Greene King IPA Championship title last season, and they will need to do the same to survive in the top flight this campaign.

“A lot of people didn’t give us a hope in hell last year and that spurred us on,” said Smith.

“Hopefully, it will be the same this year.

“Not many people would bet against us going down, but we want to prove them wrong.

“We certainly have made progress from week to week, but unfortunately the scorelines have not gone in our favour.”

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