EVERYONE at Worcester Warriors remains confident the club can pull off the great escape to avoid Aviva Premiership relegation, according to star man Chris Pennell.

Such a statement will draw scorn given the Sixways club are cut adrift at the foot of the table with just nine games left to close the gap.

However, the on-song full-back insists he is fully behind director of rugby Dean Ryan's long-term plan for the club and is convinced Warriors will be a success in the future.

"It's a three, four, five-year plan," explained Pennell, who recently underlined his faith in Ryan's vision by putting pen to paper on a new long-term deal.

"For me personally, I want to be doing all of that in the Premiership, I see no reason why we can't as well. I'd like to think that everyone else would back me up on that. As professional rugby players, you want to be playing against the best players possible, you want to be testing yourself every week against top sides.

"I completely believe in what Dean and the rest of the guys are doing here. I've got every confidence that this place will be successful and I certainly want to be a part of that.

"It's never easy going through these sort of transition periods, I don't think any of us would have thought that it would have been this difficult at the start of the season.

"But we find ourselves in this situation, it's how we get ourselves out of it. Going forward I'm completely confident in the set up here and the direction we're going off the field. It's just a shame it's not been reflected on the pitch yet but I know that it will happen."

Having graduated through the Sixways academy, 26-year-old Pennell has already racked up more than 100 games for the club and has experienced both the pressure of a relegation battle as well as a season in the second tier.

He added: "What we've got to remember is we've got some extremely experienced players in the squad already who've been in very successful teams. These guys know what it takes to win.

"Having been down in this situation before, there's certain things that are especially important so I can help pass on as much of my experience as possible.

"There's a lot of experience in the squad and understanding how to get us out of this situation. The mood has been positive."