A dramatic 22-20 win at Sale on Sunday left the Chiefs six points clear at the top of Pool 2, but Baxter knows from past experience that there is still much to do to qualify for the knockout stages for only the second time in their history.

“Over the years we’ve lost in some pretty strange circumstances in the Heineken Cup and we have come out on the bad side of a game like today more often than not,” Baxter told the Exeter website after the narrow victory.

“So, to be sat here now, three wins out of three, having collected 14 out of a possible 15 points, it feels very good, especially with Glasgow going away to La Rochelle and winning. That put a bit of interesting pressure on us, but we’ve very much kept things in our own hands.”

Next up is the return fixture with Sale at Sandy Park live on BT Sport and beIN SPORTS from 13:00 on Sunday, when Baxter will be looking for an improvement on the performance at the AJ Bell Stadium.

“I’ve told the team to chill out and relax now, but I also told them not to be afraid and to stop and think what was going through their mind going into the game, what they were thinking ahead of the second half, because whatever they were thinking, we didn’t quite get aligned,” Baxter explained.

“When we have 15 players aligned, I know we are very good. We lost it a bit today. Fortunately it’s not hurt us too badly, but luckily it hasn’t come back to haunt us either.

“The good thing is we play Sale again next week and there are improvements for us. It’s not like we have thrown the kitchen sink at it. We hung on at the end and we can play better.”

Exeter Chiefs director of rugby Rob Baxter is taking nothing for granted after the English club emerged from Round 3 of the Heineken Champions Cup as one of only four teams with 100% records this season.