ADRIAN Skeggs paid tribute to his side's character and belief as Worcester battled from behind against Birmingham & Solihull to make it a perfect 10 yesterday.

Sixways' director of coaching saw Worcester fight back from 16-10 down in the second half to win 21-16 on home soil and record their 10th consecutive National One victory of the season.

The four points keeps them 10 points clear of second-placed Leeds Tykes at the National One summit and Skeggs was delighted with the character displayed by his troops who had to show all their grit and determination to grind out a result.

He said: "We have a great belief running through the squad and it showed out there because it wasn't an easy game to play in.

"Birmingham are a side who are going to crush teams -- not beat them -- but physically crush them. However, not for one moment did I feel as if we were going to lose the game because of the character we have in the side.

"I always thought we would stick in there and keep on going. If we had got one more try in the second half we would have got the bonus point and there wouldn't have been a problem.

"The difference between the two sides was belief. They kept kicking penalties and we always went for tries and kept on being positive. That's the difference in believing and not believing."

He added: "That is the way we want to play -- we want to be positive and play attractive rugby.

"Everyone wants to see a spectacle, it's just a pity that Birmingham, with a lot of off the ball stuff, wanted to spoil the game."

Worcester prop Neil Lyman was one who suffered most from the "off the ball stuff" and will be out for at least two weeks after being stamped on during an ugly first-half brawl.

And Skeggs had some harsh words for the Birmingham side who have built up a reputation so far this season for being a physical outfit.

"I'm not into all that sort of stuff. You deal with it when it happens but you don't go out there and look for it. They were a very physical side and were basically jumping all over us throughout the match.

"I think we were positive all afternoon though and that is the thing that pleases me. We are still winning but we know we can play so much better."