Chiefs are relishing sold-out Leicester game tonight

Aussie international Dean Mumm says he and his Exeter Chiefs team-mates are relishing a return to Aviva Premiership action this afternoon when Leicester Tigers provide the opposition in a sold-out encounter at Sandy Park (5pm).

Without a game for two weekends, the Devon club welcome a star-studded Tigers line-up to the Westcountry not only looking to build on successive top flight wins over London Welsh and Harlequins, but also keeping their push for the top six firmly on track.

Mumm, a summer recruit from Super 15 side Waratahs, has settled in well to life in England and having experienced the demands of the Premiership and the Heineken Cup, the 29-year-old says he keen for more of the same, starting with today's visit of the Tigers.

"This is a very ambitious club," said Mumm. "We want to get on a run and most things are still possible at the moment. We want to grab a top-six spot and get into the Heineken Cup next year. Once that is done, we can aim as high as we want. First things first, we need to get the win this weekend and keep the momentum going."

Although Mumm missed Exeter's latest Premiership victory over Harlequins, the towering second-row returns to the fray this afternoon alongside prop Hoani Tui. On the bench there are also returns for Chris Whitehead, Brett Sturgess and Craig Mitchell; whilst England Under-20s starlet Henry Slade is included in a Premiership squad for the first time in his career.

Despite the enforced break, Mumm insists the time off has allowed the Chiefs to not only get their walking wounded back in fine fettle, but allowed others within the squad to recharge their batteries ahead of what promises to be an enthralling end to the season.

"The perception and the mood around the place is a little bit happier," said Mumm. "There was a little bit of pressure on us as a team to perform after the period around Christmas that we maybe were not so proud of.

"There were a number of losses by a couple of points, and if we had taken the wins, it would have removed the pressure and given us a good springboard into the last part of the season. The results against Welsh and Quins have given us a ray of hope and we want to hold on to that and take it forward.

"It would have been nice to carry on, perhaps, instead of having the break. There was a little bit of a rol building and some momentum. But we have been able to train reasonably well in the last couple of weeks and two weeks gives you time to refresh some players.

"Momentum is very much a mental thing, rather than any real need to play week to week – that is the way we have approached the break and trained hard through it.

"The break is a time when you can get a little bit of balance. It is a time when it is not all about performance, you can get away and freshen up mentally. We want to take that forward now with a win against Leicester."

The Tigers themselves will be buoyed by the return of their international contingent, all of whom feature in their match-day squad today following last weekend's culmination of the Six Nations Championship.

The likes of Tom Youngs, Dan Cole, Geoff Parling, Tom Croft, Ben Youngs, Toby Flood and Manu Tuilagi all start for the visitors, whilst Italian international Martin Castrogiovanni is also included on the bench despite missing out for the Azzurri a week ago.

Mumm, though, relishes the challenge that lies in wait, adding: "I'm not even sure if every Six Nations game is televised back home, but you certainly miss out on seeing how good a competition it is.

"It may be a little bit different here to a packed house at the Millennium Stadium or in Rome for those boys, but they will have a passionate and aggressive Chiefs crowd getting into them here as well. If you want to beat Leicester, you want to beat them when they are at full strength. I think it is perfectly set up. It is a great opportunity for us, whoever they bring down."