FLY HALF Ryan Lamb will make his first appearance in six months tonight (Friday, 7.45pm) as Worcester Warriors look to return to league action with a bang when they go up against Bedford Blues.
The fly half has not played for Warriors since the final game of last season as he underwent neck surgery in the summer.
Lamb is also one of eight changes to the the starting line-up which thumped Moseley in the British & Irish Cup a fortnight ago.
Mike Williams has also returned to action, while Tom Biggs, Sam Smith and skipper GJ Van Velze have been brought back into the side after sitting out the last three weeks.
And Ryan said he wanted to see a response from his returning players who have witnessed their teammates and the club’s academy aces produce the goods in the B&I Cup.
“We’re back to normal business so we really need to get back into Championship mode and come at it with a real lift in what we’re trying to achieve,” he said “We’re not prepared to allow us a little bit of lag while we find our feet back in the Championship.
“If players don’t hit the ground running, they’re going to look at someone else getting an opportunity over the top of them. And that is central to us kicking on again and again. Everyone is aware of what the targets are.
“It’s great to have Lamby back because he’s different and he played a huge part in changing the way we played at the tail end of last year.
“He’s going to put competition in there and allow us to play in different ways. We’ll chop and change as we go and see who responds and which style of play gets the best out of everyone else.”
The centre partnership, which tore apart Moseley remains the same, with Ryan Mills linking up with Max Stelling, while Darren O’Shea and Mat Gilbert have retained their place in the first 15.
Ryan added: “It’s about selection not being taken for granted and selection being something that is an illustration of somebody really coming up on the outside and getting better than the player who held his position at the beginning of the season.
“We have to be better at the tail end of the season than we were at the start and we’ll put everything into that.”
Warriors’ side to face Bedford: Howard, Smith, Stelling, Mills, Biggs, Lamb, Mulchrone, Rapava Ruskin, George, Daniels, Williams, O’Shea, Cox, Gilbert, GJ van Velze
Replacements: Sowrey, Bower, Rees, Percival, Arr, Mieres, Symons
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