“HEART breaking” and “incredibly tough” was how full-back Chris Pennell described Worcester Warriors’ turbulent 2016-17 campaign.

The long-serving back said he started the term full of hope and belief that Warriors would finally “kick on” after years of battling against relegation.

But in the end Pennell admitted it was “emotionally the toughest” he had experienced since bursting onto the scene a decade ago.

Warriors were involved in a fight for survival with Bristol and hovered dangerously above the drop at the turn of the year.

But after being thrashed 55-19 at local rivals Gloucester in January Gary Gold was parachuted in to guide Worcester to safety.

The Sixways side then turned things around, picking up vital victories over Saracens, Bristol and Bath to retain their top-tier status.

“It has been an incredibly tough year and I think emotionally the toughest I have experienced,” said 30-year-old Pennell.

“What was unbelievable was the way the boys responded post-Christmas and since Gary came in.

“Our home performances were unbelievable and as good as any I have experienced over the last 11 or 12 years.

“There were a huge amount of positives but certainly earlier on in the year it was incredibly frustrating and heart breaking at times.”

With head coach Carl Hogg in the hot-seat Warriors recorded just one league win against Newcastle Falcons in the opening four months of the season.

“I don’t think any of us were expecting to be in the position we were in,” Pennell continued.

“This was the year we were going to kick on up the league so it was tough to be in that environment where you were not winning games and trying to search for the answer.

“We needed a bit of a focus change and that’s what Gary did when he came in so it was needed at the time and I guess the results explain themselves.

“We were always very confident we were going to turn things around but it is a very different kind of pressure when you are scrapping in a relegation battle.

“We would much rather be competing for a top-four spot. The pressure of relegation is a different animal.”

Warriors collected 14 points from their final six games, losing 28-23 to high-flying Leicester Tigers on the final day of the campaign, and Pennell insisted he was already “fired up” for next season.

“When you are making small changes every week you do lose yourselves and we were all guilty of that,” Pennell added.

“But the unbelievable thing we can take away is we turned it around.

“The way we played against Leicester and the way we performed at home for the second half of the season was really positive.

“We have got a really good and exciting squad for next season and are all fired up already.”