LONDON Irish head coach Gary Gold believes his side will have to be on top form to beat Worcester tomorrow.

The Warriors go in search of their first away Premiership victory at the Madejski Stadium against the Exiles who are just five points ahead of the Sixways team.

And Gold is a keen admirer of Worcester coaches John Brain and Andy Keast after seeing them guide the Warriors to nine points so far this season.

"We know that Worcester have targeted this game as their first away win," said Gold. "We know that Andy Keast has been looking at our videos, analysing us already.

"They are a good team and if you take them lightly you are going to get a spanking just like Harlequins did.

"We're not taking them lightly in any shape or form. We are going to have to play to the top of our game if we are going to have a chance against this team -- I've been very impressed by them.

"They are well coached and Andy and John know exactly what they doing. They are good coaches, they've got a good structure to them and they've got good players in very key positions, it's going to be a hell of a tough game."

Mike Catt returns to the Irish midfield alongside Scott Staniforth while Mark Mapletoft plays at fly half following his impressive performance last Sunday in Europe.

Irish, buoyed by their two European Challenge Cup wins over Auch, are keen to improve their Madejski record after winning just two Premiership matches and three Euro games in 12 outings.

Meanwhile, Brain -- Worcester's director of rugby -- said that injury doubt Ben Hinshelwood looked "much better" yesterday following his back problems although there is still some concern over Craig Gillies' and James Brown's fitness.