Gloucester coach Bryan Redpath admitted his side had been fortunate to edge past Leicester Tigers on Friday evening.

A tight game ended with the Cherry and Whites securing a 12-9 victory , their first win since they beat Bath in early September.

The visitors almost stole the victory though when, in the last minute, Lote Tuqiri knocked the ball on when he seemed certain to score a try.

Redpath said: "We needed a little bit of fortune at the end, with a missed penalty and the knock-on although we created some good opportunities ourselves but didn't finish them off.

"I have never faulted the players' efforts over the last five or six weeks and sometimes we may be boring to watch but you have to be in the right areas to be in these games and work hard to create pressure.

"And, in the second half, we had huge amounts of pressure and possession. I cannot question the boys' efforts and tonight we got a bit of reward. To see their faces, it shows we are a tight unit.

"There were a lot of people who were, quite rightly so, criticising and having their say but I think it takes a lot of mental courage from the players to come through it."