JOHN Brain believes his Worcester Warriors side will provide a positive response to their powder-puff defensive effort against Plymouth.

The Sixways' director of rugby watched on in horror last Saturday as his side inexplicably shipped five tries and he has promised a physical reaction in tomorrow's National One clash at Moseley (3pm).

The players have been put through numerous contact sessions this week as Brain and coach Andy Keast wanted to see some hard tackling on show.

"One of the main objectives for topmorrow is to defend much better," said Brain. "We have missed a lot of tackles so we have worked hard this week to get back to a standard which is acceptable.

"We have shied away from the contact work recently because of the injury situation, but we felt that the players needed it after Saturday. What we want now is a positive response at Moseley."

Moseley were on the end of a 74-8 drubbing at Sixways back in October and have endured a miserable season, winning just four out of 21 games. But Brain acknowledges that the serious threat of relegation is likely to make them a dangerous animal.

"They are fighting for their lives," he added. "They scored 40 points at Coventry last weekend and that suggests that they can open up defences. We certainly won't underestimate them because, after all, this is a local derby and anything can happen. However, we believe that we have something to prove after the defensive effort against Plymouth and we need to improving the performances now. The Rotherham game is not far away now and we need to start hitting form."

Brain and Keast will be focused today on title rivals Rotherham's trip to Exeter Chiefs. Hopes are high at Sixways that the Devon side can put a spanner in the South Yorkshire side's well-oiled machine.

Meanwhile, Worcester have stressed that the extra tickets for the Rotherham game will be limited to two per person.

The Warriors were this week given the green light to add a 504-seat extension to the East Stand plus making another 160 tickets available for standing areas.

Tickets, which go on sale on April 1 at 9am, will only be available through the club in person and not via telephone orders. A percentage have also been offered to Rotherham.