EXPERIENCED Worcester Warriors forward Jonathan Thomas says he fully understood the club’s decision to replace him as captain this term.

The former Wales international skippered Warriors last season as they picked up just two league wins and were relegated from the Premiership.

Thomas suffered a calf injury in pre-season and South African number eight Gerrit-Jan van Velze has been given the armband for Warriors’ Greene King IPA Championship campaign.

“Dean Ryan had a conversation about the large majority of the squad being 26 or under and said it was a long-term decision,” said Thomas.

“I am 31 years old and I understand that while I am going to give huge commitment to this club for the next few years, hopefully, that age is against me leading this club for the next 10 years.

“It’s not about me, it’s not about who is captain or coach, it’s about everyone pulling together. I will do whatever I can to help this club. The big thing is to progress the club back to the Premiership.”

Thomas made his first appearance of the campaign against Jersey and is expected to play in Saturday’s British and Irish Cup clash with Moseley at Sixways (3pm).

The experienced back row forward, who racked up 188 appearances for Ospreys, believes Warriors have underachieved in recent seasons.

Thomas said: “It’s about everyone pulling together because the club has probably underachieved over the years for the resources and amount of time and money the board have put into it.

“The club is in an encouraging place at the moment. We don’t need to reference last season as everyone knows it was a huge disappointment for the club. It has allowed the club to give youth a chance and there has been a high turnover of players.

“Sometimes there’s a danger it will take players a while to settle and gel but I think it’s been pleasing that the boys have shown good intent and we are improving.

“We understand we are not the finished article. We made a lot of errors against Jersey and were not happy with the performance. The positive thing is we’ve got over the line and won again.”

Thomas said it was nice to return to the field after a frustrating time on the sidelines.

He added: “It was good to get out on the field — my previous game was in the last game of last season against Gloucester at home – so it had been quite a while.”