“INJURY-FREE” flanker Sam Lewis has set his sights on making his long-awaited Aviva Premiership bow with Worcester Warriors.

The 26-year-old open-side completed 63 minutes of Warriors’ 62-10 loss at Wasps in the Anglo-Welsh Cup earlier this month for his first competitive match in more than a year.

Although frustrated with the result, Lewis was “happy to be back” and pleased to come through unscathed.

His Ricoh Arena appearance marked the end of a long road back for the Welshman, who missed all last season with injury.

After joining from Ospreys in March 2015, Lewis scored four tries in five outings, including a hat-trick in their Championship semi-final with London Scottish.

He looked set for a big first season in the top flight before sustaining nerve damage to his shoulder in pre-season.

“It’s nice to get back on the field after 13 months out and it was good to get through injury-free,” Lewis said.

“It was nerve damage to my shoulder, which was quite a tricky one, but it was all fine after the first hit so I just tried to get stuck in.

“I did my return contact a couple of weeks ago and there were no effects from that and it was the same at Wasps.”

After surgery in March, Lewis has been battling back to full fitness.

“I have had one major operation,” he continued. “It’s been pretty tough but that’s the nature of the sport.

“A lot of the boys have been out as long as me and come back, so I am happy to be back now.

“There has been a lot of rehab sessions, so credit has to go to the physio team at Warriors as they have been brilliant to try to get me back as soon as possible.”

The Swansea-born back rower signed his first professional contract at Ospreys in 2012 before making 65 appearances for the GuinnessPro12 outfit.

But Lewis has been forced to wait for his Premiership debut and admits that is his next target.

He added: “I am aiming to play in the Premiership but we will see.”

Second-from-bottom Warriors visit Exeter Chiefs in the league on Saturday (4.30pm) after last Friday's 18-17 home loss to Northampton Saints.