PEOPLE have asked me this week whether victory tomorrow night in Italy will give Worcester more problems in the longer term.

It sounds barmy to describe winning a European tie as something which is essentially going to give you a headache.

However, that's what we have to deal with as we prepare to finish off the European Shield quarter-final tie with Leonessa.

If, as is likely, we progress to the last four it will hand us a semi-final, most probably against Leeds, in April. That will be smack, bang in the middle of a pivotal month in our Premiership season.

But what can we do? We can't throw the game. We have to act as professionally as we can in all aspects of our season and this competition is part of that campaign. A semi-final against one of the sides battling it out with us at the wrong end of the table is hardly satisfactory. However, there is no other option. We just have to get on with it.

We've made it plain that the Shield is a non-event as a tournament. No prize money, no expenses and, ultimately, no European qualification for success. The other major irritation, though, is the fact that your hands are effectively tied over players eligible to play in the competition.

We registered 34 players at the beginning of the season and we won't be able to change that until the semi-final stage. The fact, however, that you can only add another two players and change one front rower after Friday's game doesn't exactly make things easier.

We've suffered long-term injuries this season to all areas of the team plus players have come and gone. As we all know, a lot can happen between September and January at a rugby club and I feel the rules are a little inflexible at present.

We would have liked to have taken a full-strength squad over to Italy as we have no game next weekend. We give another opportunity to our young talent Uche Oduoza but we're not going to be taking chances with Thomas Lombard (shoulder) and Dale Rasmussen (ribs) while Chris Hall suffered concussion during Friday night's 32-6 first-leg victory.

It's fair to say that the performance wasn't up to scratch in that home leg. We won comfortably but, to be honest, we never got out of first gear. The score-line didn't flatter us but we felt we should have added to the tally. Leonessa looked more impressive than Rovigo and certainly the second leg will be an interesting experience for the boys.

One player who won't be making the trip is Clive Stuart-Smith. A lot of chat, within the Press, has surrounded him this week following his removal from England's 'elite' playing squad.

I have sympathy for Clive and was a little surprised by the decision because, after all, he was named in the national academy squad last year. That section is for players who show international potential. But, in a few months, since his move from Leeds to Worcester, has anything changed for Clive?

He still has massive potential. He just isn't playing regularly for us at present. It doesn't mean he's lost his ability overnight. It simply illustrates that Matt Powell has been playing very well and Neil Cole is ahead of Clive because he offers us more options from the bench.

Clive has time on his side and he's intelligent enough to know that he has to work hard and, when his chance comes along, he must grab it with both hands. We are in a results business, especially in our first year of Premiership rugby, and I think everyone at Sixways accepts that.