HEAD coach Carl Hogg admits he hadn’t “envisaged” Worcester Warriors’ injury jinx when he took over at the helm four months ago but insists “it won’t last forever”.

Hogg and high performance director Nick Johnston were elevated to oversee the first team duties at Sixways after Dean Ryan quit as director of rugby at the end of June.

But a host of injuries has left Warriors’ squad short of key players such as wings Cooper Vuna, Bryce Heem and Tom Biggs, captain Gerrit-Jan Van Velze and full-back Chris Pennell.

Warriors are second-bottom in the Aviva Premiership with one win under their belt and face former champions Harlequins at Twickenham Stoop on Saturday (3pm).

“It’s not what I first envisaged on July 1 but that’s part and parcel of the challenge and it’s the same for every director of rugby in the Premiership,” said Hogg, a former Gloucester coach.

“There are always challenges and obstacles to overcome and it’s about how successful you overcome them in that given period of time.

“It won’t last forever – we know that.”

Warriors have welcomed back Pennell after surgery to repair a bulging disc in his neck and flanker Dewald Potgieter has now recovered after a quad operation.

But Hogg revealed Warriors are scouring the globe to strengthen their depleted squad, with a special emphasis on bringing in a scrum-half.

Influential number nine Francois Hougaard had a successful operation to repair a tendon in his shoulder on Wednesday and will be out of action for between 10 and 12 weeks.

Versatile academy back Jamie Shillcock has just signed his first professional deal after impressing in four top tier matches, scoring a brace of tries.

Fellow academy back Josh Adams and rookie wing Perry Humphreys, who has snapped up three Premiership tries, have also taken their chances at first-team level.

“I would love to say it was part of some grand plan,” said Hogg.

“But it’s happened by default. We lost Bryce, Cooper, Tom Biggs, Chris Pennell and Ben Howard and, all of a sudden, these young fellas have got an opportunity.

“But, as a club, that’s what we’ve always said we wanted.

“When we get a Bryce, Cooper or Tom back then Josh and Perry will have put really solid markers down with how they compete and perform at Premiership level. For us coaches, it is fantastic because it gives us a huge degree of confidence.”

Hogg added: “It has been a huge baptism of fire for the younger players and a lot of them have come through with flying colours.”