THERE'S no point in feeling sorry for ourselves after Otley.

We won the game convincingly but lost Ben Hinshelwood in the process.

With the amount of injuries we are picking up we are beginning to wonder just when our luck is going to turn!

I looked on in horror on Saturday as Ben broke his leg and it must have been a dreadful experience for him. Ben has been a wonderful player for us this season and I would like to say to him that we will be trying to win promotion for him from now on. He has put a lot in to our promotion push and has developed into one of the major voices on the field.

It is a pity to be without him but we know how important it is to now go on and win promotion for ourselves but also for Ben. We are hopeful, of course, that he can come back before the end of the season and contribute some more. We have the little matter of Rotherham here at Sixways on April 12 and that seems like a good target to have in the back of your mind.

Losing Ben is a setback but we must get over that. We have players such as Duncan Roke who is very flexible and I believe he made his name at Henley as a centre before his move to Sixways. There is also James Ogilvie-Bull and Will Wigram. Those two will particularly want to take this opportunity to show what they can do and I know there is a United game next week. That, to me, sounds like the ideal chance to show off their skills!

The great thing about the squad is that we have depth and flexibility. People such as Chris Catling have given us a boost in the backs after Duncan's injury and his performances are giving the coaches a real headache. Craig Quinnell has come in and his ability to play in the second or back row makes a difference to the squad when you lose a player of Mark Gabey's calibre.

I thought Craig made a good start on Saturday against Otley. I know he enjoyed himself and certainly made the impression he would have liked. Setting up the first try after five minutes isn't a bad start is it? There is plenty more to come from him, though, and I expect him to rise to the occasion on Saturday. Overall we were pleased with the Otley display but we made a few silly errors and possibly could have gone on to score a few more tries. The disappointments were Ben's injury and conceding two sloppy tries.

We know just how tight the league is this season and it might yet come down to points difference. Giving away 12 points was not on the agenda and silly because they were very avoidable. What was extremely encouraging, however, was the pack's performance. Our set piece play was very good and people can see the clear improvement made in the lineout. The scrum also went well especially in the first half and that augurs well for the weekend.

We know Exeter's forwards will fancy their chances against us but we are confident in our own ability. We expect a very tough game at the County Ground and are aware that Worcester's record is not very good down there. However, we've already won down in Devon this season despite some dreadful weather conditions so we know what to expect.

It is a big challenge to go down there, win and get the four tries. Challenges, though, are what we want as professional players and we go to Exeter looking forward to the game. It is a very important one in the context of the season but once we get on to the field it is all about concentration, composure and playing to our game plan. If that doesn't work, however, sheer guts will see us through and I've seen enough from our players this season to know they've got that in abundance.