SCRUM-half Matt Powell will make his one-hundredth Premiership appearance tomorrow night when Worcester Warriors open their festive camapign with the visit of London Irish (8pm).

Powell and his team-mates go in search of their fifth consecutive win in all competitions and are boosted by the return of captain Pat Sanderson, who plays his first Guinness Premiership match in more than two months.

England international Sanderson returns to his most familiar position of open-side flanker, while Drew Hickey starts at number six and Tom Harding is demoted to the bench.

The decision to omit New Zealander Harding from the starting line-up is something of a surprise given the praise lavished on him by director of rugby John Brain this week.

But Hickey's prowess at the line-out - an area where Irish are traditionally dominant - may have given him the edge.

Brain knows his side will have their work cut out if they are to record their first home Premiership win of the season.

"London Irish have put in some pretty good performances recently," he said. "They are a talented team. They have got an exceptional line-out, a lot of pace and power throughout the side and they've had a very, very good calendar year.

"They are capable of beating anyone in this league and, if they get into their stride, they are very dangerous. They have got a lot of players who run hard at gaps and have the ability to off-load.

"They do cause you problems from a defensive point of view. Our defence has been good recently but it will have to go up a gear.

"It will be a very difficult match, but we're a lot more confident going into this game than we have been going into any other Premiership game."

Irish will be without injured England centre Mike Catt but Topsy Ojo returns on the right wing.

"Worcester are a good team who always perform well at home against us," said Exiles director of rugby Brian Smith.

"They have a strong pack and a set of backs that can score tries given any space to operate in. We have prepared well this week and will travel as optimistically as ever you can when you visit Sixways."

Warriors: Delport; Havili, Rasmussen, Lombard, Tucker; Drahm, M Powell; Morris, C Fortey, Horsman, Gillies, Murphy, Hickey, Sanderson, Horstmann. Replacements: Taumoepeau, Lutui, Collier, Harding, R Powell, Brown, Garvey.

London Irish: D Armitage; Ojo, Feaunati, Mapusua, Bishop; Everitt, Hodgson; Hatley, Paice, Rautenbach, Kennedy, Casey, Roche, S Armitage, Leguizamon. Replacements: Collins, Coetzee, Lea'aetoa, Hudson, Murphy, Rees, Geraghty.