DALE Rasmussen may be one of the most experienced and respected players in the dressing room but he has no plans to read his team-mates the riot act before Saturday afternoon's crunch match with Northampton.

The powerful centre is on a short-list of potential Warriors captains while Pat Sanderson is with England and Tony Windo is on the treatment table, but he prefers to lead by example rather than shout the odds.

"Not having Pat around is a disadvantage but, at the same time, we have other players in the squad who stand up and talk," said Rasmussen. "Darren Morris comes with a very creditable background.

"He's a good leader for us and a few other boys step up. I just do my thing.

"I just let my actions do the talking. I'm not really a person of much talk."

And no-one can argue with what the Samoan has contributed to the cause of late. While 2006 has been a year to forget for most players, Rasmussen's performances have been one of the few shining lights.

His contribution was recognised by the club's coaching staff, who named him player of the year at the end of last season.

He looked like he would start this campaign in similar vein but, in the very first game, was pole-axed after a collision with Bristol full-back Josh Taumalolo.

"I remember catching the ball and taking it down the sideline," said Rasmussen. "I saw him coming at me at a rate of knots. I thought put some feet on him' and I went to step and almost stumbled and slipped going into the tackle.

"I was almost falling and he just hit me on the chest and shoulder, just like an uppercut. I had a straight back and it knocked me out cold.

"I remember waking up and a load of people being around me."

Despite the impact of the blow, Rasmussen admits it was not nearly as bad as the one fellow Samoan Siaosi Vaili suffered on his return to Sixways with new club Viadana in a pre-season friendly in August.

The flanker is still sidelined in Italy but Rasmussen, who keeps in regular contact, believes his compatriot's injury nightmare is almost behind him.

"It has been a long hard road but he is almost back," he said.

As well as injury, Ras-mussen's season has also been disrupted by the three-match suspension he received for a dangerous tackle on Glouces-ter's Jonathan Pendlebury. It has not been easy having to sit and watch as his team-mates suffer.

"It was unbelievably frustrating," he said. "It is a lot worse being on the sidelines, whether you are injured, suspended or just not picked.

"You see it all but you are a spectator and you can't change anything. You can have no bearing on the outcome."

By his own admission, Rasmussen is impervious to pain on the field but there is no doubt Worcester's loss of form is hurting him badly.

"It is a very difficult time for everybody at the club," he said. "We are all scratching our heads, trying to work out why we are not performing."

"I look at myself and I still can't come up with answers.

"From an individual perspective, if you want to move forward that's what you are encouraged to do. From a team perspective, we don't always look at the previous game. We haven't looked at Leicester.

"I think we are just trying to put all our energy and our total focus into the next three weeks."