Josh Bassett spoke after the 42-20 win over Newcastle Falcons, in which the outside back scored one of the six tries to help secure a home play-off against Sale Sharks for Leicester Tigers.
Speaking about the performance, he said: “We certainly weren’t complacent. Cheik said we were probably working a little bit too hard, but we got there in the end and got what we needed."
“We probably had four, five try scoring opportunities in the first ten minutes. We had one knock on, one held up, and it looked like it might be one of those days. The most important thing was we kept at it, kept going and got what we needed – a home play-off."
On the reception that the 25,000 fans gave to retiring legends Dan Cole, Ben Youngs, and Mike Brown, Bassett - who will also depart the club at the end of the season to join Worcester Warriors - said it was a deserving celebration for the trio.
“They are three absolute legends of the game and they deserved that send off at a packed out Mattioli Woods Welford Road," said Bassett.
"Seeing them run out with their kids, it’s what the game is all about, giving those icons of the game what they deserve.
"Not only does it make them feel special, it shows the next generation that if you really buy into this game, if you put the work in, then these are the opportunities that you can achieve."
Looking ahead to the play-offs, Bassett was pleased for him and his teammates to have another chance to play at home in front of the Tigers fans.
“Yeah, it’s absolutely massive. You’ve seen the crowd in the last few home games just get louder and louder. Each time I don’t think they can top themselves but you felt it today – the Crumbie was stamping and you could feel it in the changing rooms. It was another level again from them, just incredible.
“That is exactly what you want, we want those sold-out games, we want that sold-out play-off to give us the best opportunity against a really good Sale team."
Tickets to the Premiership play-off at Mattioli Woods Welford Road are now on sale, exclusively available to Season Ticket Holders until 3pm on Monday, June 2, when the Tigers Together members buying window opens.
General sale for tickets opens at 8am on Tuesday, June 3, with prices starting from only £25 for Adults.
