HEAD coach Carl Hogg has revealed it’s a “busy period” at Sixways as he tries to strengthen his Worcester Warriors squad for next season.

The former Gloucester coach says he’s having a “lot of dialogue and discussion” with the existing squad and also players he’s trying to attract.

Highly-rated tighthead prop Nick Schonert has already pledged his future to Warriors after penning a new deal with the club.

However, Worcester are struggling to keep hold of loosehead prop Val Rapava Ruskin and promising youngsters Jamie Shillcock and Perry Humphreys, according to national newspaper reports.

Hogg previously said Georgian-born Ruskin, who started with his career at Blackheath, qualifies for England in the new year.

The Rugby Paper article claims Ruskin is out of contract at the end of the season and wants to return to London where his family live.

It also suggests defending Aviva Premiership champions Saracens and Harlequins are keen to capture Ruskin’s signature.

Ruskin, who turned 24 last week, has played 23 times in the Premiership for Warriors but suffered an ankle injury in a 34-13 defeat at Leicester Tigers in their last league outing.

Gloucester, Bristol, Exeter Chiefs and Wasps are interested in Warriors’ lively back Humphreys and Shillcock, according to The Rugby Paper.

Humphreys, who celebrated his 22nd birthday yesterday, has scored three tries in six Premiership matches for Worcester this term but limped off with a nasty-looking knee injury in their defeat at Tigers.

The versatile Shillcock, 19, has scored twice in four Premiership matches for Worcester and can slot in at full-back, fly-half or even at scrum-half.

Hogg said: “Discussions are always ongoing and now is a busy period where you have a lot of dialogue and discussion with players about retaining and also about bringing players in. But there are no further contracts.”

Warriors appointed Jan McGinity as their new head of rugby recruitment in August and has been researching “all of the potential talent.”

McGinity previously worked as a consultant at Sixways and was head of rugby at a sport marketing company.

“Jan has been involved in the last two or three years as a consultant with the club so he was brought in on a full-time basis,” explained Hogg.

“He will research all of the potential talent that is out there under my guidance along with Nick Johnston and Jan will look to do dealings from a professional point of view.”

Hogg added: “As a club we are always looking to strive and move forward and we are looking at the markets of young players who can come in here and grow in this environment. But we are also looking at talented individuals to supplement what we’ve got and Jan is part of that process.”