DIRECTOR of rugby Alan Solomons felt Worcester Warriors could have beaten Bath had they not been hit by injuries to tighthead props Nick Schonert and Richard Palframan.

Late tries from Ted Hill and Francois Hougaard saw Warriors claim a try-bonus point from a 36-28 loss at The Rec.

However, Solomons reckoned Warriors who remain top of Pool C in the Premiership Cup could have come away with more.

Bath led 24-0 before Marco Mama went over just before the break to inspire a Warriors fightback.

But Worcester were dealt a double blow at the start of the second period.

Schonert was helped off the field after sustaining an ankle injury before his replacement Palframan suffered a blow to his head moments after coming on for his debut.

Although Warriors cut the deficit to 24-14 thanks to a converted Ollie Lawrence try, Bath proved too strong in the scrum as a penalty try and then a score from Aled Brew sealed victory for the hosts.

"I thought we dominated the second half,” Solomons said.

"But for losing our two tightheads we could have won that game because the only time they profited was through the scrum.

"They got penalties through the scrum which gave them field position.

"There was great resilience shown by the side.

"A bonus point with four tries was fantastic and we came within a hair's breadth of getting that second bonus point.”

Naming an entirely different starting XV from the one that thrashed Leicester Tigers last weekend Warriors struggled in the opening 30 minutes at Bath.

Will Chudley, Levi Davis and Worcester-born Elliott Stooke went over to put the hosts in command.

“Everytime we made a mistake or gave away a penalty we were punished,” said Solomons on the first half.

“What you suddenly realise is that you are back playing in the Prem.

“This is a different level.

“The sides are good, so if you make mistakes or give away penalties you pay a price and we conversely didn’t close out the opportunities that we had right at the beginning of the game.

“We had the lineout close to their line and (the referee) blows us for obstruction. There is a penalty and they (Bath) are out of jail.

“Houggy (Hougaard) had that massive break, but nothing came of it and we had one or two line-breaks that we weren’t able to translate into points.

“Obviously we are rusty as nobody had played but we are better off for this game.

“The big thing for me was the resilience the players showed to come back from 24-0 down away from home back to 36-28 and within a hair's breadth of getting that extra bonus point which would have been fantastic.”

Bath were also hit by injuries with number nines Chudley and Max Green going off but Tom de Glanville received praise from boss Stuart Hooper for stepping in at scrum-half and pulling off a stunning try-saving tackle on Melani Nanai.

“It was a mixed bag for us,” Hooper said.

“When we lost the two number nines it was a big challenge for us as a scrum-half is a massive organiser.

“In the first half-hour we controlled the game really well.

“Max Clark carried strongly to give us great momentum and we used the space out wide.

“We got a bit ragged without a regular number nine, but it was an unbelievable tackle from de Glanville to save that try.”