POWERFUL prop Val Rapava Ruskin and lock Darren Barry are injury concerns for Worcester Warriors’ final Aviva Premiership match against defending champions Saracens at Sixways on Saturday (3.30pm).

Ruskin, 23, suffered an ankle injury in the first half of Saturday’s 31-17 defeat at Leicester Tigers and Barry, 26, also limped off the field in the opening 40 minutes.

Back row Phil Dowson, 34, was replaced at the break after a bang on the head, according to the Warriors director of rugby Dean Ryan.

“We lost Darren, which meant a reshuffle, and we missed two or three line-outs just after half-time that knocked a bit of our momentum,” said Ryan.

“We lost Val, who has been in great form, so we lost a big carrier. It hurts us when we’re a small squad and people get injured.

“Val twisted his ankle and we will deal with it throughout this week.

“Dows had a bit of a knock on the head and we chose to put Sam Betty on because we weren’t messing around.”

Warriors will be keen to round off their first season back in the top tier with a home victory against Saracens, who have reached the Champions Cup final and play-offs.

Worcester have lost the last three games since securing their Premiership safety and will finish the season in 10th place.

They are without Francois Hougaard for the Saracens clash because the scrum-half is linking up with South Africa sevens, so Luke Baldwin looks set to start.

Centre Wynand Olivier (hamstring) is unlikely to be risked for the final game.

Saracens thumped Warriors 48-18 in a one-sided contest at Twickenham in November.

But Warriors will take confidence from going toe-to-toe with Leicester for long periods at Welford Road before the home side’s strength from the bench tilted the game in Tigers’ favour.

Flanker Carl Kirwan had another impressive showing, while tries from Bryce Heem and Andy Symons helped Warriors into 17-14 half-time lead.

Ryan admitted: “We were disappointed not to have won. We knew we were playing one of the top four in the league and had to play at our best to get some sort of chance.

“We are creating lots but need to mature a little to be a bit more clinical.”

Symons marked his 50th appearance for Warriors with a try and drew praise from Warriors’ chief.

He is leaving Sixways in the summer to join London Irish, who have been relegated to the Championship.

“I thought he was great,” said Ryan. “He was really physical.

“We knew we probably had an edge on Leicester’s midfield after some of the changes they made, so we wanted to push hard.”