WORCESTER Warriors must “polish the edges” for next Sunday’s relegation showdown against Bristol at Sixways, insists director of rugby Gary Gold.

The former Bath and London Irish chief is urging his side to be “a lot more clinical” after Saturday’s disappointing 24-14 defeat at Northampton Saints.

Warriors faded after an early try from Josh Adams but showed patience at the end when in-from Bryce Heem touched down in the final play at Franklin’s Gardens.

Gold will be sweating over the fitness of tighthead prop Nick Schonert for the crunch Sixways clash against basement boys Bristol who closed to within two points with a 12-11 win over Bath.

Schonert “is an anchor” of Worcester’s scrum and left the field after just four minutes against Saints with suspected concussion.

“I thought Bryce played really well, chased kicks really well, got under the high ball and was defensively very good,” said Gold.

“He’s one of our stand-out players at the moment. Our set-piece got away at the end but it’s not easy when you lose your tighthead and it’s a challenge especially when he’s the anchor of the scrum.

“On the reverse side, Northampton are a very accomplished driving team with a very good forward pack when in the 22 and we neutralised them very well and stopped them from exerting pressure.

“Generally, our try-line defence was very good. There are certainly areas of improvement. The issue is that eventually our dam wall breaks when there is consistent pressure.

“Our late try made it slightly more respectable on the scoreboard but it also showed these guys are up for the fight.

“When I joined a month ago all I could ask from the players was to stay in the fight.

“Now we need to polish the edges a bit and we need to be a lot more clinical in the things we do.”

Gold continued: “We played very little rugby in our own half against Saracens and were neat and clean but we weren’t neat and clean against Exeter or Saints.

“When you make mistakes like missing touch, kicking the ball dead, kicking directly into touch and conceding penalties when you have a team on the rack you are going to make life difficult for yourselves.”

Full-back Chris Pennell looked lively after coming on as a second-half replacement for Perry Humphreys for his first outing since Worcester’s 28-20 defeat at Bristol on Boxing Day.

And Gold was pleased with the impact the experienced Pennell made after his lengthy absence with a heel problem.

“Chris wanted to get his hands on the ball and I thought he brought a good energy when he came on to the field,” said Gold.

“Having a seasoned campaigner like Chris is critical for us at this moment in time.”

However, Warriors missed the line-out jumping skills of injured back row Chris Vui and coughed up ball several times on their own throw.

“Our line-out really improved with Chris, not only on our own ball but from a contesting point of view,” said Gold.

“I thought his work-rate on the park has been good.

“But the loose forwards played well with Dewald (Potgieter), Sammy Lewis and Phil (Dowson) having good games. Marco Mama made a big mark when he came off the bench.”