ALAN Solomons reflected on a “very positive” start to his reign as Worcester Warriors boss despite finishing the season just one place above the relegation zone.

Warriors let slip a 14-0 lead to lose 32-24 at Northampton Saints in their final game of the 2017-18 Aviva Premiership campaign.

The result sees Worcester finish in 11th position, level on points with 10th-placed Harlequins and 14 points clear of relegated London Irish.

Solomons said it was a “pity” Warriors missed the chance to climb above Saints into ninth spot which would have been their highest league placing in more than a decade.

But having secured their top-flight status and claimed “some big scalps” in the process Solomons was pleased with his side’s efforts this term.

The 67-year-old arrived at Sixways as a coaching consultant in October with Worcester at the foot of the table and only one point on the board.

Since then they have chalked up memorable victories at Leicester Tigers and defending champions Exeter Chiefs to move away from the drop zone.

“It has been very positive,” said Solomons who replaced Gary Gold as director of rugby in late December on a three-year deal.

“I can only comment on the time since I came in. I was involved in 16 games and we have won seven of those.

“We have got bonus points in others like Harlequins away where we picked up two and Saracens away.

“We have taken some big scalps as we won at Exeter which was massive.

“We have beaten Gloucester at home and Leicester at Welford Road for the first time in god knows how many years.

“So overall I think it has been a good season.

“We finished clear of the relegation zone, well ahead of London Irish, but it was just a pity we couldn’t get the win on Saturday which would have taken us into ninth position.”

Warriors secured Premiership survival last weekend thanks to a seven-try 44-13 thrashing of Harlequins at Sixways.

But Solomons was keen to see his side go out with a “bang” at Franklin’s Gardens as they aimed to finish outside the bottom three for the first time since the 2005-06 season.

Two converted tries from Will Butler put Warriors 14-0 in front before Mitch Eadie burrowed over from close range.

Worcester then suffered a double injury blow as Francois Hougaard (head) and Butler (arm) were forced off on the half-hour mark.

Centre Ben Te’o struck at the start of the season period but tries from Nafi Tuitavake, Ben Foden and Tom Collins sealed maximum points for Northampton.

“It was important that we finished with a bang,” Solomons said.

“If we had played well we were capable of getting the win.

“If you look at the state of the game when we got that double injury blow that made a massive difference to us.

“But I don’t want to take anything away from Saints because on the balance of the game for 80 minutes they deserved to win.

“They got on top of us in the scrum and we made too many unforced errors.”

Warriors’ players will now have a chance to recharge their batteries before they return for pre-season training in June.

“We have got to have a good break now,” Solomons added.

“We have got five weeks off and then we have got to have a massive pre-season as a big work-on for us is consistency in our performance.”