WORCESTER Warriors centre Ben Te’o hasn’t played much rugby since January and “needs time in the middle”.

The 30-year-old drew criticism from some supporters after a spill against Sale Sharks led to the hosts scoring a first-half try in Warriors’ 36-26 Aviva Premiership defeat at the AJ Bell Stadium.

Director of rugby Gary Gold has been impressed with Te’o’s exceptional attitude in training since the player returned from England duty.

And Gold, 49, believes the England ace can deliver a powerful display against Bath at Sixways on Saturday (3pm).

“It’s been great (working with Te’o),” said Gold, who arrived at Sixways at the end of January.

“He’s come back (from duty with England in the Six Nations) and his attitude has been exceptional.

“It’s difficult for me to comment on anything that has happened in the past.

“I had a great catch-up with Ben last week and he trains really well. He’s a great pro and is not a State of Origin player for nothing.”

Auckland-born Te’o has snapped up four tries in nine appearances for Warriors.

He has recovered from the concussion he suffered in England’s Six Nations defeat in Ireland last month.

Gold said: “Ben has won the NRL and is a great footballer.

"All Ben needs now is time in the middle and we need to give that to him.

“I am very happy to do that.

“If you look back and see how much rugby he played over the Six Nations it would not have been a lot.

“Last Friday was always going to be tough for him to get on to the park and understand what we are about and come to terms with the changes.

“But I am really confident we are going to see a really powerful performance for him this weekend.”

Second-from-bottom Warriors are eight points above basement boys Bristol, who host table-topping Wasps at Ashton Gate on Sunday.

Bristol almost put a major dent into Warriors’ survival hopes last Saturday when they led high-flying Exeter Chiefs until the dying minutes before eventually losing 38-34 at Sandy Park.

Gold said: “When we are in the situation we are at the moment we should not just be satisfied with a point.

“We have to set standards a lot higher than just getting a point and I expect us to be able to convert strong starts into something a little bit more meaningful.

“There’s nothing we can do about (what Bristol are doing) and spending too much time and energy on what happens somewhere else in the country is going to take the focus off our job.

“Our focus at the moment is to keep improving as a team.”

Gold added: “We know we have a huge amount of work to do and a handful of games left this season.

“We will have to put right the wrongs and start improving the areas we’ve been short of in the past.”