Mike Ruddock has called on his Worcester Warriors to build on cup momentum and strike a crucial Guinness Premiership blow against Bristol Rugby on Saturday at Sixways Stadium (kick-off 3pm).
Warriors returned to winning with a crucial European Challenge Cup win over Bourgoin and now face a massive league fixture on Saturday.
Director of Rugby Ruddock admits his side will face a pumped up Bristol team who will be keen to climb off the foot of the table.
But he is confident his team can claim a key league win if they rise to the challenge and find a more clinical edge.
“Hopefully the win over Bourgoin will give us confidence ahead of Bristol,” he said. “That clash will be very physical, field position and territory will be at a premium again.
“Bristol will be scrapping for their lives and they will be incredibly committed coming here.
“We also beat them twice last year and that is another motivation to want to beat us this time and get us back into a dogfight at the bottom of the league.
“We have got to be more accurate than we were in the cup and more precise than we were against Bourgoin.
“We have got to be willing to meet that challenge head on and overcome it. It will be a hell of a game and one we are looking forward to.”
Warriors now focus on league action for a month but Ruddock insists success in the European competition remains high on the wish list this term.
“We are placed well now and we want to finish the group off in style and get some wins,” added Ruddock.
“We have had three tough matches on the road in this competition so after this we have two more to come and are in a position to press on and win the pool.
“Unless someone slips up it is difficult to make a home semi-final which is a bit of a blow, but we will deal with that another day. The main thing is to win the pool and get a home quarter-final; we will see what happens from there.
“The league remains the priority, that is why we rested people like Greg Rawlinson and Matt Mullan, but there is nothing like a good cup run.
“If you can get success in a competition like this it does build your confidence and give you a chance to develop your cohesiveness going back in the Guinness Premiership.”
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