NIALL Annett insists there’s no point Worcester Warriors beating themselves up after they slipped to an 11th successive defeat.

The 24-year-old former Ulster forward says he’s very proud to be part of a Warriors team who work hard for each other.

Annett has appeared in all 10 of Worcester’s Aviva Premiership matches this term and played the full 80 minutes of Sunday’s 30-15 home defeat to high-flying Exeter Chiefs.

Warriors remain 10th in the Premiership and face a crucial match at fellow strugglers London Irish, who are bottom of the table, at Reading’s Madejski Stadium on Sunday (1pm).

Worcester’s last triumph at first XV level was a 19-3 success over La Rochelle at Sixways in their European Challenge Cup opener in November.

“I am very proud to be in a team who work as hard as we do for each other and I am looking forward to looking back at the Exeter game in more detail,” said Belfast-born Annett.

“I worked very hard and judge myself on how hard I am working in the moment of a game. There’s always small details you can improve on in the technical side but, in terms of effort levels, I gave a huge amount.

“We’ve got 10 back-to-back weeks of rugby so there’s no point beating ourselves up after the loss.”

Warriors’ last Premiership victory was a 28-20 home triumph over Newcastle Falcons, who moved off the foot of the table with their 26-19 weekend success over Harlequins.

Despite the losses stretching back more than two months, the hooker says the mood in the Sixways dressing room remains high.

Annett added: “I don’t think there’s any feeling of negativity in the club. On reflection, we should have got a lot more from some of the games.

“It’s an easy thing to say in hindsight but we’re learning, growing and gaining experience every week. We are working very hard away from the match-days to get better.”

Annett stresses Warriors played good rugby against Exeter.

“Exeter play with a lot of tempo and have a good width in their game,” said Annett. “They do it very well and are a very good team. It was a tight game with two good teams trying to play some good rugby and we were in the game and competitive.

“We are showing a lot of character. We have to go away and keep learning.”

Annett has established himself as Warriors’ first-choice hooker up against Dan George, who is injured, Ben Sowrey and Jaba Bregvadze.

“There’s huge competition and there has been since the moment I arrived at Worcester,” said Annett. “I am working as hard as I can to keep the jersey.”