Rugby union Bristol will be relegated from the Guinness Premiership if they lose at home to Worcester on Sunday. It is not an unfamiliar position for the West Country club, who were demoted in 1998 and 2003, but whereas six years ago they lost their entire first-team squad and their backer, Malcolm Pearce, after dropping into the first division, they are adamant they will be in a better position to bounce back.

Victory over the Warriors, the only other side that can be relegated, would probably do no more than delay Bristol's demise. Bottom of the table all season with just one victory, they have shown signs of improvement in recent weeks, losing to Leicester, Harlequins and Wasps by a single score, but their fate was effectively decided when they crashed at home to Newcastle last month.

"All we can do is concentrate on the next game," said the Bristol head coach, Paul Hull, who took over from Richard Hill after the Newcastle defeat, bringing forward a planned summer handover. "We have improved in recent weeks, but when you are at the bottom of the table, the bounce of the ball and decisions tend to go against you. We will keep fighting – we owe it to our supporters."

Things started going wrong for Bristol even before a ball was passed last September. They were forced to cut spending because they thought they would be moving to Newport for two years while the Memorial Stadium was redeveloped, but ended up staying put at short notice and lost out having sold season tickets at concessionary prices.

"It meant we could not spend as much on recruitment as others," said Hull. "We also ended up with too many players, over 50, many of whom were good rather than very good. We knew it would be tough, a battle for survival, and the experimental law variations [ELVs] probably worked against us, taking away the rolling maul, which had been one of our weapons. Perhaps we did not adapt quickly enough and we certainly put too much emphasis into the importance of the Newcastle game last month. I had never seen a team freeze like that before."

It took Bristol two years to get out of the first division the last time they were relegated, but Hull is confident they would, if they went down, be able to mount a promotion challenge immediately. "The playing squad will be cut, but that needed to happen anyway," he said. "I've been given a budget for next season and I will spend every penny of it. We were in a precarious position financially last December before investors stepped in and we will not be in the position we were six years ago when we went down and had no players or money."

The £3m parachute payment will help, but Bristol are already making administrative cuts and Hull knows that failure to get back at the first attempt will make it harder each subsequent year they remain in the second tier. "We have put together three and five-year plans," he said. "Harlequins and Northampton have shown in recent years that relegation is not the end of the world. They both came back stronger, and if we do go down, our aim would be to get back into the Premiership as soon as possible."

Bristol have already set their season-ticket prices for next season, the most expensive costing £250. A number of players have re-signed, along with the forwards coach, John Brian, but the No8, Dan Ward-Smith, is joining Wasps and the wing, David Lemi, is expected to move to France, while the futures of the England scrum-half, Shaun Perry, and the club captain, Joe El-Abd, remain uncertain.

"Dan is moving to Wasps, who themselves have lost a number of players," said Hull, a former England international. "We can only look forward. I am anxious to get my first win since taking over and I want to be a successful coach. That means I would not want to be out of the elite game for too long."Perry said he had not lined up a move from Bristol in the event of relegation. "I hope to be here next season," said the 30-year-old. "We have not given up hope of staying up, but we are running out of games. It is tough, but I agree with promotion and relegation. If we do go down, we have to regroup, keep our spirit up and make sure we get back at the first attempt."