EXPERIENCED lock Donncha O’Callaghan fears Worcester Warriors could be given an “unmerciful hammering” if they don’t step up against Leicester Tigers at Welford Road.

Warriors have yet to beat the 10-time English champions on their own soil in 13 visits and are huge underdogs for today’s Aviva Premiership clash (3pm).

The former Ireland and British and Irish Lions star believes Warriors’ squad must “play 10 per cent beyond their best” to even challenge fourth-placed Tigers.

“These are the big games, especially as a forward,” said 37-year-old O’Callaghan, who has tasted success at Welford Road in the past with former club Munster.

“Foolishly, some people might say these are the games you look forward to and enjoy but I don’t agree with that at all.

“These are the games that leave you with a scar or a massive trophy in your career.

“You could go there and get absolutely hammered if you don’t get it right or you could do something very special. For us to do something special, we need to go beyond ourselves.

“We will have to play beyond ourselves to compete with a team like Leicester and we know we will be tested massively up-front.”

O’Callaghan missed Warriors’ 31-17 defeat at Leicester last season and was red-carded for the first time in his career in the 29-20 reverse at Sixways.

Warriors have lost their last 12 Premiership outings against Tigers and failed to beat the former champions for more than eight years.

O’Callaghan said: “Last season we were disappointed because we played well for the first 30 minutes at Leicester and then fell away.

“We have to concentrate on our performance fully because if you don’t get it right you could come away with an unmerciful hammering, which would be awful.

“Against top-quality teams like Leicester, they heap pressure on to you and keep turning it up until you make a mistake and then they are ruthless.

“These games are special and you know what it means to the Leicester supporters.

“When you go to a place like Welford Road you have to treat the whole club with a massive amount of respect and that’s the mind-set we had at Munster in our successful days.”

O’Callaghan has played all but 18 minutes of Warriors’ last four games after being dropped by head coach Carl Hogg for their 35-3 opening-day defeat against Saracens.

Tenth-placed Warriors picked up their first win of the season last Sunday, beating Newcastle Falcons 11-9, while Tigers suffered a 34-30 defeat at Sale Sharks.

O’Callaghan said: “You know Leicester are going to bring their best and we have to be way beyond it.

“It might seem a daft thing to say but I think everyone in our squad has to play 10 per cent beyond their best to get a result and even then you might only just nick a game.

“There are teams who deserve respect because they’ve done it in Europe and this league.

“There are other teams who are probably overrated and get hyped up when they don’t deserve it but Leicester certainly deserve the plaudits.”