WORCESTER Warriors director of rugby Dean Ryan insists the mood of the camp remains high despite Worcester Cavaliers' 27-19 defeat against Saracens Storm in Monday's Aviva A-League final.

He has tipped Ben Howard to bounce back after the versatile player struggled to deal with an aerial bombardment in the wet conditions.

“Ben struggled a bit with some of the high balls and he will be disappointed with that because he’s been rock solid in other games," said Ryan.

"It was a tough night and that’s something which Ben will have to learn from for the future.”

He added: "We have to be careful that the disappointment of not winning the final, it does not overshadow what has been a fantastic journey for the team and the club.

“I would hate that word disappointment to be wrapped up in the Cavaliers for the whole season because it has been invigorating for us as a club and as a team in the Championship.

“For those young guys, there’s no point then talking about the way they want to play, it’s about understanding what they are capable of doing if they find themselves in that situation again.

“We were five minutes away from winning the game and we missed a couple of line-outs and we are at the level we would want our next guys to be performing at.”

Ryan added: “I think we saw a top of the Premiership side with Saracens’ kicking game, field position and their contact area which just had a bit of edge on us.

“We have got some work to do at the front end – we don’t have Saracens’ front end and we don’t have Bath’s front end but we can try to close the gap by attracting people that want to get better.”