Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter insists there is no reason to panic despite his side slipping to second from bottom in the Prem Rugby table following Saturday’s 20-7 defeat by Bristol at Ashton Gate.

The Chiefs, beaten finalists in June, have won just once in their opening four league matches, but Baxter believes their start to the campaign is not as concerning as it might appear.

Baxter pointed to Exeter’s results compared with last season, arguing that their performances have not been significantly worse despite their lowly position in the table.

“The season’s not hugely different, it just looks like it and feels like it,” he said.

“The only odd result we’ve had in the league so far, if you compare it to last season, was losing to Gloucester, and Gloucester clearly are going to beat people this season.

“We lost that first game of the season, but we picked up a point. We’ve been to Bath and picked up two points, which is what we did last season.

“We beat Newcastle at home with five points, what we did last season, and we didn’t beat Bristol last season at Bristol.”

Exeter were unable to overcome their local rivals in difficult conditions, with the Bears moving up to third after a hard-fought victory.

Gabriel Ibitoye’s 26th-minute try and a James Williams penalty gave the hosts a 10-point advantage at half-time, with the stormy weather making handling difficult for both sides.

The Chiefs responded after the break when Greg Fisilau was driven over from a powerful driving maul from 10 metres, reducing the deficit to three points and giving the visitors hope of rescuing something from the contest.

However, Bristol held firm under pressure before Williams kicked a superb 41-metre penalty to extend the lead.

Replacement Luca Ivanishvili then crossed late on after Exeter full-back Olly Woodburn failed to gather a high ball, sealing the victory and denying Baxter’s side a losing bonus point.

The result leaves Exeter on eight points, six behind Bristol, with Harlequins now just one point adrift after claiming their first win of the season.

Baxter knows the Chiefs’ final fixture before the autumn international break, at home against Harlequins on Saturday (3pm), carries added importance.

“I’ve got to make sure I get the lads feeling some reality about where we are,” he said.

“Despite people can look and go, ‘Ah, this isn’t right’, a lot of things are right, we’ve just got to stick to it.”

The Exeter boss believes his side must approach the encounter with the same expectations they had last season, when they defeated the Quins at Sandy Park.

“Harlequins becomes big because we beat Harlequins at home last season, so we’ve got to beat them at home this season, that’s how we’ve got to do it.”

For Baxter, the message is clear: Exeter must remain calm, trust their approach and turn their performances into results before the gap to the teams above them grows any further.

EXETER CHIEFS: Woodburn; Wimbush, Slade, Butt, Hammersley; Skinner, Wolstenholme; Abuladze, Yeandle, Iosefa-Scott; Hooper, Jenkins (capt), E Roots, Vintcent, Fisilau. Replacements: Norey, Burger, J Roots, Wilson, James, Varney, Haydon-Wood, Harris.

Tries: Fisilau; Convs: Slade; Pens: N/A.