JOHN Brain believes Tony Windo is playing some of the best rugby of his car-eer at Worcester.

The Sixways head coach has been impressed with the way the former Gloucester prop has bounced back this season after being dropped last year following a dip in form.

George Davis took Windo's place at loosehead midway through the season until Windo proved he was too important to leave out.

"Tony suffered a dip in form in December," said Brain. "We decided to go with George Davis then. Certainly, though, Tony has come back well in the last month or so extremely well. We've spoken to him about his performances and we've been very happy with him."

Brain and Windo go back many years from their Gloucester days together. However, the former Cherry and Whites coach is delighted to see Windo's levels of performance are as good as ever in National One.

"I've known Tony for a long time because of the Gloucester connection. He is a very strong set-piece operator. However, what has pleased me most is his continued work-rate on the field which has definitely improved. He's fitter probably than he's ever been and I think he's thriving in the Worcester environment.

"We are very pleased with him and the message we've given him this week is - keep it up."

With Windo, like many other Worcester players, out of contract in the summer, the 32-year-old will have one eye on extending his deal. And for Brain, he is going about it in the right manner.

"He's obviously in his 30s now and that is not a bad age for a prop by any means. However, there are younger guys breathing down his neck. We want to bring in younger guys to put pressure on the established players. We'll start to think about contracts in the next month or so."