SO often regarded as a waste of time by directors of rugby across the country, from a Warriors perspective the LV= Cup has been a real positive.

The past fortnight has seen Sixways youngsters pitched into the glare of first XV rugby and, to a man, they have stood up to be counted.

Although it would be foolish to now throw these bright-eyed prospects into the white heat of Aviva Premiership competition, there is no doubting several of them did their prospects the power of good.

Strong-running centre Max Stelling has impressed the most with realistic claims for a squad place — possibly even a starting berth — when Warriors head up the M6 to take on Sale Sharks in a massive league game on Friday.

Stelling’s newly-recruited centre partner Andy Symons looked the real deal against Leicester, while the likes of James Stephenson, Dean Hammond, Ben Howard, Rob O’Donnell and Richard de Carpentier have all given good accounts of themselves.

Added to that, young scrum-half George de Cothi and lock Christian Scotland-Williamson made their first senior appearances against Leicester and more than held their own.

However — and possibly more importantly — the LV= Cup has helped to lift the gloom clouds that had descended like an impenetrable fog over Sixways this season.

Nine league and Amlin Challenge Cup games without a win had caused a great depression among the Warriors fan base, who looked on in horror as their side were run ragged on the field and cut adrift at the foot of the table.

While the Premiership standings still make for grim reading for anyone connected to Worcester, there is now a sense of belief and optimism around the club, which was not there two weeks ago.

Dean Ryan, ever the pragmatist, is under no illusions as to the scale of the challenge ahead, though, and will not let a couple of bright performances from his academy young guns create the impression Warriors have turned a corner. Far from it, the hard work begins now.

Worryingly, though, Warriors still managed to be their own worst enemy against the Tigers and dreadful goal-kicking cost them a win that would have put them on the verge of the semi-finals.

While the experiment of using Symons as a kicker should prove to be short-lived, it is the form off the tee of senior fly-halves Paul Warwick and Ignacio Mieres that is the biggest cause for concern.

The debacle against Tigers should be put down to a bad day at the office, but it has been an ongoing problem for both of Ryan’s 10s and no doubt he wishes he could call upon the kicking skills of the recently-departed Andy Goode, who wasn’t offered a new deal last term.

Neither Warwick nor Mieres have proved anywhere near reliable enough so far this season and, when you are in the position Warriors are, you need to take every chance to put points on the board that comes your way.