WORCESTER Warriors chief Dean Ryan insists the pressure will be on London Irish in Sunday’s Aviva Premiership bottom-of the-table showdown at Reading’s Madejski Stadium (1pm).

Warriors slipped to an ultimately comprehensive 30-15 defeat to high-flying Exeter Chiefs in front of 8,215 supporters at Sixways today.

They have lost their last 11 first XV matches and are just four points better off than basement side Irish.

Newcastle Falcons, helped by three penalties and a conversion from former Warrior Andy Goode, climbed off the foot of the table with a 26-19 home win over Harlequins.

Worcester desperately need to add to their last Premiership victory, 28-20 over Newcastle in November, and their curtain-raising triumph over Northampton Saints.

“The whole season is not defined next weekend,” said Ryan. “They (London Irish) are at home and the pressure is on them.

“They haven’t won this weekend (lost 38-10 at Sale Sharks). We’ve talked about how we’ve played against Leicester, Exeter and Harlequins.

“We have to see if we can do something against a side who are not necessarily performing at those levels and see where we are.

“The next nine weeks are going to be crucial, so we have to grab the positives and look at how we can challenge ourselves to be a little bit better for the next match.”

Warriors fought hard for long periods against a slick and clinical Exeter side.

Worcester bossed the scrum, winning a succession of penalties at the set-piece.

Props Na’ama Leleimalefaga and Nick Schonert put in huge shifts against an Exeter front row that included Wales international Tomas Francis.

Brave tackling from Phil Dowson, who recovered from an early knock, and Donncha O’Callaghan ensured Warriors remained in the contest despite increasing pressure in the second period. Tom Heathcote nailed five penalties for Worcester but was off target with a shot at goal on the stroke of half-time, which would have put Warriors 15-12 ahead.

Crucially, with the score at 15-15, Heathcote over-cooked a try-scoring pass to wing Cooper Vuna, which would have put Warriors ahead with around 25 minutes left.

Ryan admitted: “They put their try in and we didn’t. That’s just life.

“It was a good strike move and we held all the right people and that was our opportunity but we didn’t nail it.

“Against this Exeter side you are not going to be able to have four or five goes at it and that’s just the challenge of the levels that these sort of sides play at.”

Heathcote had an erratic match, kicking the ball out on the full on several occasions as Worcester, at times, were the architects of their own downfall.

Exeter’s ability to stretch Worcester’s defence and play at a high-tempo was clear to see.

The visitors, backed by a large band of vocal supporters, were rewarded with tries from James Short, Ian Whitten, Don Armand and Thomas Waldrom. Skipper Gareth Steenson kicked 10 points.

Ryan added: “Of course we want to win next weekend but we have been pretty comfortable with the levels of performance.

“We have played some pretty tough sides and been pretty competitive.

“Now we have to see if we can clean up a game against a team (Irish), who are probably not the same sort of quality as this one (Exeter).”