HOME-GROWN ace Jake Abbott believes things are beginning to click at Worcester Warriors despite slumping to a seventh straight league defeat.
The Worcester-born flanker, who came through Warriors’ academy system, said it has been “heart-breaking” to see his boyhood club struggling at the foot of the Aviva Premiership table.
Abbott said the amount of changes made over the summer, including a raft of new players and coaches arriving, has not helped Warriors’ cause.
But the 25-year-old insisted the team, who suffered a 21-6 defeat to Bath last Friday, was starting to gel and he was confident they could turn their sorry season around.
“The belief is definitely there,” Abbott said. “This is a tough league and there has been a lot of changes made throughout the summer and the start of the season, so we are adapting to it.
“It is a high pressured environment and sometimes it takes time for things to click. I certainly believe we are showing positive signs in training and we are starting to show that on the field. As long as we stay on the same page we will come strong.
“It breaks my heart to see us where we are in the table as I just want us to do well. My missus says I am miserable at home most of the time, so I am trying to stay positive and just to reiterate I do feel we are clicking and we are going in the right direction.”
But Abbott admitted his side must improve their discipline to stand any chance of picking up much-needed wins as he felt their high penalty count handed Bath the initiative at Sixways.
“We spoke about the first ten minutes as being big for us and I think the effort, the intensity and the passion was there from the start,” he said.
“But we let ourselves down with the discipline and George Ford took full advantage. None of us are intending to give away penalties, but we are doing it and we are consistently doing it, so it is something we have to look at as a team.
“On top of that the breakdown is an area we need to focus on now as we need to start dominating it.”