WORCESTER Warriors chief Alan Solomons has called on his side to compete on all fronts ahead of a visit to Welford Road to tackle Leicester Tigers.
The Sixways outfit go into Saturday’s clash (kick-off 3pm) buoyed by four straight wins in all competitions after kicking off their Premiership Rugby Cup campaign with a 35-3 win over Sale Sharks on Friday evening.
And director of rugby Solomons believes the squad, from the first team down to the academy, has the ability to compete in all three competitions facing Warriors this season.
“We did reasonably well with our recruitment and we felt that we had sufficient depth to compete in all competitions which is what we are trying to do,” he said.
“Our vision is centred around the academy. Our senior academy players are totally integrated with the senior squad and Gordon Ross and Chim Gale, our academy coaches, are integrated into the coaching system, so it’s seamless.”
Solomons said he expected a tough game in the East Midlands just over a month after the Warriors emerged on top in a sensational 44-37 win to kick-start their Gallagher Premiership campaign.
“We had a tough game there in September. They came back strongly but what was great is that right at the death Ted Hill got the try in the corner,” he said.
“There has been good resolve, resilience and character throughout the season so far.”
Warriors wing Josh Adams had the distinction of scoring the first try in the new competition, which has replaced the Anglo Welsh Cup, after just five minutes and it set Warriors on their way to success over a youthful Sale side.
“A lot of the players hadn’t played for three weeks. It was a competitive game and for a first hit out it was pretty good.
From an all-round perspective, I was happy with the performance,” said Solomons.
A number of Warriors will miss the clash after time on the treatment table and the club confirmed Jono Lance would be out for four months with a partial stress fracture in his back.
Ashley Beck has had surgery on his broken leg and will be out for six months while Ryan Mills, Marco Mama, Farai Mudariki are all unavailable for the Leicester trip.
Chris Pennell is available as is Anton Bresler after passing the concussion protocol while Cornell Du Preez has now been discharged from hospital after a serious throat injury against Wasps in September.