SCRUM-HALF Michael Dowsett admitted his teammates ‘lost belief’ in the early part of the season but insists it is ‘creeping back’ after Warriors’ European and Anglo-Welsh Cup games.
The 25-year-old Australian praised his side’s performances in both tournaments, which has left the Sixways outfit sitting in second place in both tables after picking up a win and three bonus points across four games.
The livewire half-back believes the 14 tries scored across those games has boosted the squad’s attacking confidence and stressed the club expect nothing less than a win when they host Northampton Saints at Sixways in the Premiership on Saturday (kick-off 1pm).
“There’s certainly a belief now amongst the players that we’re good enough to win a game regardless of what we’re up against,” said the former Brumbies scrum-half.
“I think early on in the season when we lost our first couple of games we probably did lose a little bit of belief, but it’s starting to creep back in.
“The boys have put in some pretty good shifts (in Europe and Anglo-Welsh). (Backs coach) Sam Vesty spoke about trying to swing the pendulum into the attacking part of our game and I think it’s certainly paying dividends for us on the weekend.
“The belief in the squad is getting bigger as we know we can comeback from large deficits and put teams under a lot pressure. We’re at a stage now where losing just isn’t acceptable.
“We don’t want to be lingering down at the bottom of the Premiership, so we expect nothing less than a win (against Northampton Saints).”
Dowsett insists the return of fellow scrum-halves Luke Baldwin and Francois Hougaard, alongside himself and Jonny Arr, will drive the competition for the No 9 jersey.
“It’s good to have competition as we make each other better,” he said.
“I’m sure which ever one of us starts or comes off the bench at the weekend, we’ll do the other one justice.
“It was frustrating not getting much of an opportunity to play in the first part of the season through injury. I had a head knock at the back end of last season and the medical team were being a bit cautious with me, so to come back and be out on the field (in European and Anglo-Welsh Cup) was awesome.”