DESPITE defeat against Northampton Saints on Saturday making it nine Aviva Premiership matches without a victory, Warriors chief Dean Ryan is keeping the faith his side can avoid the drop.

Worcester are 10 points adrift of second-bottom London Irish in the standings, but the Sixways director of rugby is certainly not ready to throw in the towel.

He said: “We are doing everything we can to avoid a return to the Championship — that’s the reality.

“We are doing all we can to ensure we move this club forward, but there isn’t one simple answer.

“We have to stop thinking there is a miracle answer — that has been the cycle year after year here and that creates an environment where people begin to believe that there is.

“It is all about hard work week in, week out and we are trying to do that. Without a doubt I am seeing signs of improvements.

“For 60 minutes, we were outstanding against one of the best sides in the country. Against Bath, we were significantly more competitive than we had been in other games.

“Compared to where we were eight or nine weeks ago, everyone can see the improvements. It doesn’t take a huge amount to look at Saturday’s two line-ups to see there is a big gap, though.”

Ryan added: “I think the scoreline against Saints was a reflection of the game.

“For 60 minutes, we were competitive, but we were not competitive in the last 10 to 15.

“That is something we are trying to close the gap in, but if you can roll someone like Courtney Lawes off the bench, then that is an indication of the depth in your squad.

“I was pretty pleased though and we are starting to understand our game, what works for us and we are starting to be a collective force.

“We’ve not had much luck and we were on the back end of a poor penalty count again, so sometimes it is easy to favour the big powerhouse side that rolls into town.

“That’s life though when you’re where we are and rather than moaning about it, we have to get on with it and the players deserve credit for a tremendous 50, 60-minute effort.

“I think the key thing with the youngsters is that they have the capability of growing and you have to put them in the environment, support them and see how far they can grow.

“That is what this club will be successful on — the growth of youngsters — because that ceiling height is unknown. Max Stelling played his first 15 minutes of Premiership rugby and that is one of the seeds we have been planting over the last seven or eight weeks.

“It’s the same with the likes of Jimmy Stephenson and RDC (Richard de Carpentier) — things are starting to grow and move us forward.”