Howard: No advantage gained

Leicester head coach Pat Howard admits his side's 40-26 win over Wasps did not give them the psychological edge fro the Heineken Cup final.

The Tigers meet the Londoners in May's showpiece as Howard's side remain on course for a trophy treble.

Howard said: "This result has no bearing on the Heineken Cup. Two years ago we beat them here in the last round by a bigger margin and they killed us in the final two weeks later."

Leicester ran in four tries to book a home play-off semi-final against Bristol on Saturday.

Howard added: "We scored some nice tries, but they asked us a lot of questions.

"They may have had one eye on the Heineken Cup final with resting Lawrence Dallaglio and Raphael Ibanez.

"They will be fresh by the time of the Heineken Cup final.

"They will be well rested and will have players to add to the team, but we will be match-hardened."

Leicester now take on Bristol and that gives them a chance to avenge a 30-13 defeat at Ashton Gate last week which was their only loss in their last eight games in all competition.

Howard said: "They are a good team and I think they have the best defensive record in the competition. All the games now are do or die."