David Humphreys has praised his Gloucester Rugby side for showing "a huge amount of character and spirit" to overcome Exeter Chiefs 26-25 at Sandy Park this afternoon.

Gloucester went into the clash on the back of two successive home defeats at the end of 2014, but they managed to dig in to narrowly edge out their West Country rivals.

Speaking after the game, Humphreys told reporters: "Today was all about the result. Often we stand after the matches and talk about the performances but this was all about the result and I'm delighted we got the four points.

"I thought we showed a huge amount of character and spirit, especially after the second try just after half-time. Based on the last couple of performances it would have been easy for us to go back into our shells. But we kept going and we took the opportunities that came along.

"We've been hugely disappointed losing back-to-back games at Kingsholm - it is something that we don't find acceptable. This week was about setting down a marker with almost half the season still to go and we've tried to stress getting the new year off to a good start."

Gloucester return to action next Friday when they host Saracens.