ONE-time Warriors favourite Blair Cowan will be out to prove his former employers made a mistake by letting him go last summer.

The recently-capped Scotland international, who was born in New Zealand, impressed at number eight for Worcester, but was allowed to move to London Irish at the end of last term.

He has since gone on to be a key player for the Exiles and lines up against his previous club when the Aviva Premiership bottom two meet at the Madejski Stadium today (3pm).

The 27-year-old, who has scored two tries in 12 appearances for his new club, said: “After watching Worcester’s game against Saracens, they were down and out, but fought the full 80 minutes and put together some good phases.

“They’re a fighting team and I think they’ve got a lot of potential, so it’s going to be a hard game — there’s no question about it.

“But it’s a home game for us, which is a huge advantage, and we’ve got to put everything together.

“It’s turned into a big game because we’re the bottom two. At some point, we need to make that turn again into a winning environment and now is as good a time as any.

“It’s a home game against a team perceived as not being in form. But they’re a good side, it’s going to be a challenge and we’re definitely up for it.

“This is the big one for us. Winning is a culture and over these next five weeks we can build a solid culture.”

Despite Irish managing just two league wins from 11 outings this term, they are still 10 points clear of Warriors and Cowan insists there is no talk of a relegation battle.

“We’ve never been looking at relegation,” he said. “That’s never been a word at this club. Everything we’ve looked at is what we want to become and working towards that.

“There’s been no pressure from the bottom. It’s been more disappointment with how we’ve been performing.

“We’re just looking for a win, to play our game and not play pressure rugby where we have to win. We’re still going to stay true to ourselves and do what we do and I think that’s going to be key.

“I play every week like I’ve a point to prove about my own game. I think every player in the Premiership is a good one, but what divides the best is consistency.”