FLY HALF Ryan Lamb believes a top of the table finish will give Worcester Warriors a psychological edge over their play-off rivals.
Warriors are currently three points behind Greene King IPA Championship leaders Bristol with two games remaining after beating Yorkshire Carnegie 39-26 on Saturday.
But a maximum-point victory at Cornish Pirates this weekend followed by a win over Bristol seven days later would ensure Worcester return to the summit.
And Lamb said this would stand Worcester in good stead heading into the play-offs as it would guarantee them a home second leg in the final.
“This is the business end of the season now,” Lamb said. “We have got through to the play-offs, so for mental reasons we want to come top of the pack now.
“It seems like Bristol are the side we are going to meet (in the final), but we are taking every game as it comes.
“We had a disappointing loss to Jersey which gave us a bit of a bloody nose, but I think it has given us a bit of a wake-up call.
“We have put together a few big wins, so the club is moving in the right direction, but we are under no illusions as we have got some tough games coming up.
“We just have to make sure we are riding on a wave of momentum and make sure we are going into the play-offs as well prepared as we can.”
Lamb has missed a large chunk of the season due to injuries to his neck and ankle and the stand off said he was determined to make up for lost time.
“I have not played as much as I would have liked through injury this year, so it has been a bit of a stop-start season for me,” he said.
“I was just doing a chin up when I have got a neck spasm. It was not really getting any better as I had no power in my arms, so I had a scan and it turned out I had a bulging disk which was going onto a nerve ending.
“I got that sorted, but it took three months and it obviously disrupted my season.
“The other injury was to my ankle which I did playing touch rugby, so both were very random.
“I just want to get a bit of consistency under my belt now and learn the combinations.
“I was very rusty in the first 40 minutes against Scottish, but since then I have got back into my rhythm and feel OK.”