Leicester Tigers forward Harry Wells says the club are ‘under no illusions’ about the challenge posed by a European semi-final with Toulon.

After the cancellation of their quarter-final tie with Castres last weekend, Tigers travel to the Stade Félix Mayol in the final four of the European Challenge Cup this Saturday.

But he insists the squad – with the influence of a new-look coaching team led by Steve Borthwick – must face each game as it comes in the run-in to the end of a year-long season.

“Toulon are a very successful club, especially on the European stage, and it’s a hostile place to play even with a smaller capacity,” Wells said.

“They’ve won three European Cups not too long ago, and playing these away games in Europe … there’s nothing really to compare it to.”

Wells and Co go to France knowing that just 80 minutes of rugby stand between them and a possible Cup final. But that won’t be the message in the dressing room on Saturday evening.

He said: “First and foremost, we’re trying to not get too far ahead of ourselves. When it’s knockout rugby, you only get one chance.

“You’re in a lot more high-pressure situations where every single decision can affect the game massively, so the responsibility of each individual player is really emphasised and discipline has really been hammered home in training.”

And Wells vowed to leave no-one questioning the effort of this Tigers team.

“This weekend is going to be a real challenge,” he said. “But we’re going to go there and give it everything. We’re not going there to lose.

“We’re going there to play ourselves into a final, but we’re under no illusions as to how difficult that is going to be.”