If the Zurich premiership were an episode of 'The Weakest Link', Anne Robinson would have ejected Rotherham back in August.

The Yorkshire minnows have won just one of their nine matches in the league and lie eight points adrift at the foot of the table.

Bath are expected to beat them handsomely on Sunday and score enough quality tries to erase the memory of those three try-less matches against Munster and Gloucester.

The Rec faithful have been in restless mood since the start of the season. They are not accustomed to failure, and six defeats before the middle of November led to murmurings of discontentment on the terraces.

Even when Bath have won, they have not managed play with the panache they displayed so wonderfully at the tail-end of last season.

Rotherham are seen as the whipping boys against whom all will be put right, but this is far from the case.

Head coach Jon Callard will be eager to ensure that none of his players falls into the trap of complacency, not least because Rotherham are not a bad side at all.

Open-side flanker Angus Gardiner spoke for the rest of the side when he vehemently denied that it was difficult to prepare for a game that Bath are expected to win easily.

The British-born New Zealander said: "It is not difficult to prepare at all. Rotherham are a proud team and they are trying to make an impact in the division after coming up last season.

"They've not had results go their way. They have not been whipping boys. It has always been close and we are expecting nothing different on Sunday. We go into the game on level pegging."

The 28-year-old's comments are borne out by the statistics. Only Saracens have put more than 35 points past Rotherham in the league.

They may not have many star names, but they are a hard-working team who have steadfastly refused to prostrate themselves in front of the big boys.

Rotherham are not depleted by international call-ups in the way that their hosts are.

Steve Borthwick has been released by England to play for Bath, but Callard will still be without the services of four of his first-choice backs in Iain Balshaw, Mike Tindall, Mike Catt and Matt Perry, as well as hooker Mark Regan.

Bath's defence looked suspect behind the scrum in their shaky 34-32 win over Sale last weekend, and they could be vulnerable again with a number of players feeling their way back from injury.

However, Gardiner feels that the narrow victory could provide a boost to Bath's confidence, which was so fragile after the Tetley's Cup defeat at home to Gloucester.

He said: "It was good for confidence. It was a close-run thing, but we worked hard and got the result. That's one win struck off the list.

"We were very disappointed after the Gloucester game and I think the week off gave guys time to reflect.

"In a way, it can be helpful to play with some of the younger players when the internationals are away.

"It is an opportunity for them to put pressure on the regulars and their enthusiasm can infect the other players.

"It is important for them to understand that they have as much of a role in the team as the guys that have been there since the beginning of the season."

Gardiner was born in Stoke to Kiwi parents but returned to New Zealand when he was just a year old.

He has a record in club rugby to match anyone in the Premiership, having won back-to-back Super-12 Championships with the Canterbury Crusaders.

Despite his double triumph in the world's top club competition, Gardiner yearned for a change of scene and jumped at the chance when Bath approached him 13 months ago.

He made an immediate impact at The Rec and was called up to represent the country of his birth in an 'A' international just three months after his arrival.

He still has ambitions to play for the full side, but is philosophical about his chances of ousting the present incumbent of the number six jersey, Neil Back.

He has some strong views about the rugby set-up in this country.

He said: "The Super-12 is condensed and action-packed, for 13 weeks in a row.

"The Heineken Cup is the closest thing to it we have in the Northern hemisphere, but you have four games, and then it stops. That dilutes it a bit. The Super-12 is more structured.

"There are too many games in too many competitions here. You don't get the chance to recover from little niggles.

"The way the game is presented here is not doing it a lot of good. It is very difficult for the international players."