Head Coach Richard Hill has confirmed England Under-20 ace Matt Kvesic and Tom Arscott will both face Nottingham in the RFU Championship play-offs this Saturday at Sixways Stadium (kick-off 3pm).
Versatile back Arscott will start the game following a rib injury to captain Chris Pennell suffered at Meadow Lane last Friday.
Kvesic, fresh from his Grand Slam heroics with England Under-20s, will replace James Collins while Aleki Lutui and Bruce Douglas are also set for call-ups for the game on home soil.
“I’ll be making one or two changes,” revealed Hill. “Chris Pennell has slightly popped a rib cartilage, but is not as bad as we first feared – he’s running around already which is good news, so he’ll only miss a couple of weeks. Tom Arscott will come in and replace him at full-back.
“James Collins took a hefty bang to the head and had a bit of concussion so we will rest him this weekend and Matt Kvesic, who has done exceptionally well for England Under 20s, comes in.
“The other two to take knocks at Nottingham were Chris Fortey and Tevita Taumoepeau – they are both fully fit, but we’ve decided to put them on the bench as we have strength in depth and Aleki Lutui and Bruce Douglas will both start. It certainly doesn’t weaken us.”
Hill also admits he is expecting a spicy encounter after a fierce and bruising battle saw Warriors edge out Nottingham 25-19 at Meadow Lane last Friday.
“We need to test Nottingham out this weekend to see if they can back up their really intense performance from last Friday,” he added.
“We learnt a lot about them and we won’t treat them quite so lightly this time around – their defence was much more physical and difficult to break down – they also kept going for the full 80 minutes. We’d expected them to wilt after 60 but, to be fair to them, they didn’t.
“There can normally be a bit of aggravation when you play teams back-to-back and a few scores to settle. Nottingham got stuck right into us last Friday and were physical and abrasive so this one will have a bit of spice.”
Tickets to watch Warriors and Nottingham do battle in the RFU Championship play-offs are available now by calling the Warriors Box Office on 01905 454183 during office hours or by clicking HERE to buy online from www.warriors.co.uk