Bath's Daniel Browne is set for a first appearance of the campaign in the EDF Cup on Friday night after recovering from his pre-season thumb injury.
The New Zealand-born forward suffered the injury in a pre-match friendly against Ulster eight weeks ago.
"It's been really frustrating," he said. "Especially the last two games.
"I was warming up with the team except for actually stepping onto the field. Being sat on the sideline and not being able to do anything was really tough."
But Browne told BBC Bristol: "I'm just looking forward to getting a bit of match fitness and game time".
And the Bath number eight reckons the EDF Cup is an important competition.
"There are a lot of games in the season," he said. "But we still want to play good rugby and we still take it very seriously.
"We are still going up to Sale with a plan to win. We just approach every game with the ambition to win the game."
The Guinness Premiership leaders will be under pressure to get a result after losing their first Group B game at home to Leicester three weeks go.
That was their only home game in the group stages as they must travel again next weekend when they round off with a trip to Cardiff Blues (1935 GMT).
Bath take on Sale Sharks at Edgeley Park on Friday night (24 October, 1945 BST).
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