CRAIG Gillies returns to the Worcester Warriors second row for Saturday's Guinness Premiership assignment at Leicester (3pm).

The 6ft 7ins lock has missed the last three games with a knee injury but returns in place of Phil Murphy for the trip to the East Midlands.

Dale Rasmussen is serving the last match of his three-week suspension so Simon Whatling and Thomas Lombard resume their centre partnership.

Tigers will be hit by a number of withdrawals because of international commitments but Worcester head coach Anthony Eddy knows they are not to be underestimated.

"They have got quite a few players out for the Test match but Leicester have such strength in their squad that they replace them with other internationals from other countries," he said.

"You have got to play Leicester at some stage and I suppose this weekend is just as good as any.

"They will certainly fill those positions with very capable players, there's no doubt about that."

Warriors have included prop Chris Horsman in their starting XV after he was withdrawn from the Wales squad during the week.

Horsman was named on the bench for Saturday's Test match with Australia before the clubs' governing body, Premier Rugby, intervened.

Despite the tug-of-war over the player, Eddy insists neither Horsman nor the club have been disrupted in their preparations for Leicester.

"We thought that would be the solution the whole time," he said. "It was a Premier Rugby decision.

"Chris is a professional rugby player and he just got on with his job once the decision was made."

The Tigers match is the first of four club games that clash with international fixtures. After this weekend, Warriors play Northampton, Harlequins and Saracens, who are unlikely to be as inconvenienced by the internationals as the Welford Road club.

Eddy knows this period is "extremely critical" given the club's perilous position at the bottom of the Guinness Premiership table.

"We have put a lot of emphasis on the next four weeks," he said. "We will take one game at a time. This week is all about Leicester then we will look at our position the following week.

"We've got to focus more on what we are doing and our own performance. Some teams might lose international players due to the autumn Test matches, others won't.

"If you look at the games ahead of us, they are not going to lose too many players out of their team."

Warriors: Best; Havili, Lombard, Whatling, Tucker; Drahm, Powell R; L Fortey, Lutui, Horsman, Blaze, Gillies, Horstmann, Harding, Hickey. Replacements: Morris, Gotting, Murphy, Quinnell, M Powell, Brown, Delport.