The Exiles are yet to record a victory at home in the Aviva Premiership this season, leaving them only one place above the bottom of the table after four successive defeats.

Brian Smith’s Irish were far from outclassed by title-chasing Bath last weekend, but they lacked the necessary finishing power to see off the visitors’ challenge.

It was another frustrating afternoon for director of rugby Smith, who admitted: “Our effort was good but our precision wasn’t great.

“We put ourselves under pressure situations which were of our own making.

“We had distractions leading into the game, especially the loss of our skipper, George Skivington, but we played some good rugby against a side which had a very fancy backline.”

But Smith also stressed there is no reason to hit the panic button: “We are not where we want to be but we have to accept it,” he added.

“The season is only a third gone and there’s plenty of rugby left to play.”

Former Wales star Gavin Henson proved to be a thorn in Irish’s side on Saturday.

He kicked 11 points to add to a penalty try as Bath led 16-6 at the interval, with recalled Shane Geraghty landing two penalties for the hosts who also saw Halani Aulika yellow carded for coming in at the side of a ruck.

Bath pulled further ahead after the restart through a Henry Thomas try, but they were soon pegged back when David Paice crossed the whitewash for an Exiles touchdown.

Geraghty slotted the conversion and then kicked a penalty as Irish closed the gap to a mere seven points.

Sadly, Bath cranked up the pressure and, after another successful Henson penalty, Chris Cook dotted down for a converted try to give the visitors some breathing space.

There was still enough time left for James Short to cross the whitewash for Irish’s second score of the day while Bath were down to 14 men following Dominic Day’s yellow card.

But it proved to be a mere consolation for the home side as Henson ended with an 18-point personal haul following a fine display of kicking to maintain Bath’s title challenge and leave the Exiles to ponder another home defeat.

Toby Booth, Bath’s assistant coach and former Exiles director of rugby, said: “We didn’t play at our best and it was a tough game.

“They were emotionally charged after last week’s heavy defeat and we knew they would come out with a reaction.

“In international periods, the games are fraught with difficulty as there is so much disruption. People need to find the feet and get used to where people play.

“It was a very stop-start game so we didn’t see any of our three-quarters at their best. However, the bottom line is that the team comes first and they all put in good defensive efforts.”

Irish have another opportunity to secure their first home league win this Sunday when they host Gloucester (1pm ko).

A bonus-point win for Irish would see them leapfrog ninth-placed Gloucester in the table.

London Irish: Fenby; Lewington, Mulchrone, Geraghty, Ojo; Noakes, Steele; Court, Paice, Aulika; Skivington (c), Cox; Narraway, Gilsenan, Guest. Replacements: Stevens; Parr; Halavatau; Lyons; Curry; Allinson; Griffin; Short.

Bath: Arscott; Rokoduguni, Joseph, Eastmond, Banahan; Henson, Young; Catt, Batty, Thomas; Hooper (c), Day; Garvey, Sisi, Houston. Replacements: Dunn, Auterac, Palma-Newport, Ewels, Fearns, Cook, Devoto, Woodburn.

Referee: Andrew Small (RFU).

Attendance: 8,133.