THE DAYS of returning home with an Aviva Premiership victory to gloat about are starting become a distant memory for lock James Percival.
Not since the match against London Wasps in March last year has the 30-year-old and his Worcester Warriors teammates experienced the feeling of a win in the league.
Director of rugby Dean Ryan has since taken to the helm, while several new players have come through the doors, but still that elusive victory continues to rankle with Percival.
“I can come back home and I can sit for nights without saying a word to my wife and she’ll say ‘what’s wrong with you?,” Percival said. “But it is hard to explain as I get quite emotionally tied up in it all.”
Saturday’s 42-3 thumping at the hands of Exeter Chiefs at Sixways was Worcester’s 20th defeat of the season.
They are also out of the LV= Cup and the Amlin Challenge Cup and are 11 points adrift at the foot of the Premiership, with ten games remaining.
But Percival, who has made more than 50 appearances for his boyhood club, is refusing to throw in the towel as he firmly believes Warriors can pull off the great escape.
“Deep down, I believe that if we click we won’t just be turning over the likes of London Irish, we will be turning over the likes of Leicester Tigers as well,” he said.
“Sometimes I do think I have forgotten what it feels like to win, but that is not a bad thing because when we do win in the league it will have such an effect on us.”
He added: “Last season we began to think we were safe when London Welsh were deducted points and our performances then went downhill.
“I believe if we can obtain one or even two wins then that will have a massive effect on the two teams above us. We will then have the mental edge as four or five points will be nothing to claw back.
“But it is up to us now to turn things around and I just want to be winning.”
