England centre Shontayne Hape is close to agreeing terms with Bath Rugby on a new deal – and admits that a swift conclusion of negotiations is needed for the sake of his game.

The inside centre is the first to admit that he has been off the boil since returning to The Rec following a successful autumn series with England.

Bluntly, he describes his first two games back in a Bath shirt as his "worst performances" since making the switch from rugby league to union.

The 29-year-old, whose third child arrived in mid-December, admits that on-field and off-field pressures have got to him.

Striking a tone that was refreshingly honest rather than whinging, the six-cap England star conceded that playing for a contract had taken its toll.

Coupled with pressures at home, he has been unable to strike any kind of rhythm.

Hape, who arrived at Bath in the summer of 2008 from Super League side Bradford Bulls, said: "I feel like I've been on edge the last couple of weeks. Everyone's desperate to win.

"You're desperate not to be the one who stuffs up. You don't do things you know you would normally do.

"I'm hoping I can get the contract signed this week. I've definitely been talking to the club but I'm leaving all that with my agent behind the scenes.

"I've just got to concentrate on playing rugby.

"I've probably been guilty in the past few games of wanting to play my best game for the sake of contracts, so that everyone can see what I'm capable of, but it just doesn't work like that.

"The pressure builds up. You end up playing your worst game because you're thinking too much about it.

"You really just need to concentrate on what you do well and let the other stuff take care of itself.

"For me it's been a bit of a tricky situation because I've never really been in a position like this before, where you come into the back half of a season with all this pressure on you.

"My manager and Nick [Blofeld, Bath chief executive] met last week. I'm hoping we can get something done straightaway so I can concentrate on rugby.

"I love the city. It's an awesome place. I'm not going to go too far."

For his part, Blofeld is optimistic that Bath will retain Hape – provided his agent doesn't price his client out of the market.

"I'm reasonably confident," said Blofeld. "Shontayne has a reasonable offer on the table and we are in conversation with his manager.

"His agent is trying to push it up but there comes a point where you don't want to miss an opportunity."

Hape, who was named in Martin Johnson's Elite Player Squad yesterday for the forthcoming Six Nations, is delighted to be retained in the national team but knows he needs to find his stride.

"I was hoping I'd done enough in the Autumn Internationals to keep my place in the squad, even though I'd be the first one to criticise my personal performance since coming back to Bath," he said. " I've probably had two of my worst games. I'm the worst critic of my own game.

"In this professional era of rugby it's hard to maintain those high standards week in, week out with the pressures off the field as well. It takes its toll.

"Being professional and trying to juggle your family life, it's definitely a learning curve for me.

"After having two children, I thought having one more wouldn't be much different but it is. With everything at home, your workload doubles.

"But all that aside, coming back to Bath has been good. Things are looking up. After the wins against London Irish and Leeds the confidence in the team has picked up and everyone is walking around with a smile.

"The pressure valve has been released a bit. Against Aironi on Saturday, the guys can relax a bit and hopefully play some good rugby.

"We've got the squad but as players we've not been hitting the heights at the same time. There have been a lot of basic errors going on that don't normally happen.

"I know personally that I haven't hit my straps yet. I've still got a lot to prove and I want to play well this week, definitely."