Boss Richard Hill is ready to let his young guns fire as Warriors look to remain undefeated in pre-season when they take on Plymouth Albion at Sixways on Friday night (kick-off 7.30pm).
Worcester have secured friendly victories over Cardiff Blues, Scarlets and Rotherham Titans and clocked up over 100 points in three games ahead of the new Aviva Premiership season.
However, Hill is set to again make changes for the visit of RFU Championship outfit Plymouth and indicated that a number of the young stars at Sixways – many from the club’s Academy set-up – who came off the bench against Titans will get a chance to impress.
“We will be looking to make it four wins out of four in our pre-season games on Friday night – it’s important to keep the momentum going,” he said.
“A lot of the side that finished our match against Rotherham, when we put a lot of the Academy lads on and they did really well, will start against Plymouth.
“We said at half-time against Rotherham that we’d introduce a lot of the Academy players, as well as one or two guest players, and they saw in the first-half what was expected of them.
“We did concede a couple of tries in the second-half against Rotherham, but throughout that 40 minutes I was delighted with the young lads’ efforts and they will deserve a start against Plymouth.
“Sometimes you need a bit of luck to get your chance and through injuries and unavailability Ben Howard has been able to start all of our three pre-season games so far and he has taken his opportunity, simple as that.
“He’s made a couple of mistakes as all young lads do, but there has been such a lot of good stuff and he’s earned the respect of the senior players. We also gave centre Max Stelling the opportunity to play in a very good back-line and he played very well.
“I am confident for the Plymouth game and I’m looking forward to seeing these youngsters start a match.
“They are very exciting – especially the likes of Ben, Max, Joe Nellany and Ed Taylor. They’ll all be a bit nervous, but they need to step up to the plate, alongside the likes of Ollie Frost and Tom Carlisle, so it will be a young side, but an exciting one.”
Fans are reminded that entry to the pre-season friendly with Plymouth Albion is FREE but with a suggested donation to the Warriors Community Foundation.
Supporters are advised that only the East Stand will be open for this game and parking on site is also FREE and on a first come, first parked basis.
“A lot of the side that finished our match against Rotherham, when we put a lot of the Academy lads on and they did really well, will start against Plymouth…"