AFTER watching his side finish off the season with a 25-22 defeat at Bath, Worcester head coach Anthony Eddy admitted more consistency is needed next season.

Warriors climbed to the lofty heights of fourth in the Premiership before suffering a dip in form after Christmas and Eddy is desperate to avoid a similar scenario next season.

"I think we made steady progress but what was disappointing was that period in the middle of the season," he said. "It's hard to put your finger exactly on why we had that slump in form and we were so inconsistent with our performances week in week out.

"It's something that we will look at very closely and try and remedy for next year so we don't have those mid-season blues and not play any decent rugby at all."

Eddy took over from Andy Keast last summer and is looking forward to his first full pre-season before the next campaign.

"I have really enjoyed the year," he said "But we haven't been as consistent as what we would have liked.

"We've got a lot of hard work ahead of us in the pre-season. Hopefully we can be a bit more consistent in the Premiership next year."

Worcester finished three points short of their 50-point target for the year and Eddy thinks it will make everyone at the club more determined to put things right.

He said: "It makes you a little bit more hungry. It's a nice way for us to finish this season, playing this type of rugby.

"I hope that we can progress with that at the start of next season and get off with some really good results."

Warriors came agonisingly close to victory and had a strong case for a penalty try in the last minute.

But Eddy was pleased with his side's style of play, which saw them produce four well-crafted tries. "It's a nice way to play the game but, unfortunately, we didn't get the result in the end," he said.

"I feel more sorry for the boys than anyone else. They put their hearts into that game and it would have been nice to finish the season with a win and having played some enjoyable rugby."

For Bath, a question mark still hangs over the future of head coach Brian Ashton, widely touted as the man to revolutionise England's attacking play. But when asked if he has been approached he insisted: "I've heard nothing."

In the meantime he is busy planning for Bath's pre-season, including a week with Toulouse and sessions with top rugby league coaches.

On the final performance of the season Ashton said: "It was nice to finish with a bonus. There was some fantastic rugby, some entertaining rugby and some absolutely crazy rugby -- from both sides."

Worcester skipper Pat Sanderson said: "We were pretty close at the end but we're looking to next season now."