DIRECTOR of rugby Gary Gold insists he is not tempted to make “radical changes” for Worcester Warriors’ first home fixture of the season against Wasps on Sunday (3pm).

Warriors crashed to a sorry 35-8 opening-day defeat at Newcastle Falcons last Friday.

Although unhappy with his side’s performance, Gold said it would “scream of panic” if he made numerous changes.

And he has backed his players to produce a “strong performance” in front of the Sixways faithful.

“I am absolutely not (looking to shake things up),” he said.

“I just think that would scream of panic and we are not remotely panicking.

“The guys who went out there who have played more than enough good games didn’t play a good game, so they need to go and fix it.

“I just think it must be a nightmare for a player if the coach is consistently chopping and changing the team because he is not sure himself of what it is.

“We know pretty much what the core of the squad is.

“It is unfortunate that a handful of those players are injured at the moment.

“It has been a nightmare period, but there is going to be a period where they are all going to be coming back from injury so there is no temptation to make radical changes.”

Lock Will Spencer has been ruled out with an ankle injury sustained against Newcastle.

But centre Ben Te’o is available despite taking a knock in the same game.

Wynand Olivier looks set to miss the Midlands derby after picking up a hamstring injury in the warm-up last week.

But Gold revealed he would wait until tomorrow before making a decision on whether to select the experienced centre and back Perry Humphreys.

“There are a couple of close calls,” he said.

“Will will be out, but as it is a Sunday game we will wait until Friday to see if Wynand and Perry are going to be OK.”

Warriors’ opponents finished top of the table last season before losing to Exeter Chiefs in a thrilling Premiership final at Twickenham.

Wasps kicked off their campaign by scoring seven tries in a 50-35 victory over Sale Sharks last weekend.

Gold believes the Coventry side will be stronger this term, but says his players are relishing the challenge.

“I think Wasps will have high expectations to comfortably be finishing in the top four so it is going to be a big challenge for us,” Gold said.

“But it is a challenge we need to embrace.

“What better way to get our confidence back after a very disappointing performance by playing well against them.

“We may win the game, we may not but what is important now is that we put in a really good performance.

“We are always looking forward to coming back to Sixways. We have great support there and I am really hoping that people are going to turn out in their droves on Sunday.

“I am very confident we will get a response from our guys and they will give a strong performance.”