OLLIE Lawrence is delighted to be back after his injury nightmare — and he has now set his sights on nailing down a starting shirt.

The fit-again centre scored one of Worcester Warriors’ four tries in the 36-28 defeat at Bath in the Premiership Cup at the weekend.

Although disappointed with the result and aspects of his own performance, Lawrence was pleased to just get 80 minutes under his belt.

The 20-year-old endured arguably the toughest experience of his fledging career when he sustained a major ankle injury playing for England under 20s in March.

It was a long road to recovery for Lawrence who had to undergone surgery and then many months of rehabilitation.

But after a tough pre-season the rising star is now fighting fit and determined to “play as much as possible” this term.

“It was tough mentally and physically,” said Lawrence when reflecting on the injury.

“It was my first proper injury so it took a lot out of me at first but I had good people around me.

“I have good family support so they just pushed me to get back out there and luckily I was able to play 80 minutes on Saturday.

“It is good to be back with the boys, training week-in week-out and going through all the hard work together.”

One of Lawrence’s main targets last season was to secure his place in the England side for the World Rugby Under 20 Championship this summer.

However, his dreams of representing his country in Argentina were dashed by his season-ending injury.

“It was tough but with every obstacle there is going to be a reward somewhere so it was one of those things that I missed out on,” Lawrence said.

“The boys played well over there and were unfortunate not to qualify (for the knockouts).

“I wish I could have gone but I am now looking forward to pushing on.”

Lawrence scored four tries in 18 appearances in the 2018-19 campaign, impressing off the bench in several Gallagher Premiership games.

But the academy graduate has yet to achieve his first start in the top flight.

“I just want to get back out there, start putting in performances on the weekend, push for spots and hopefully start,” Lawrence said.

“That’s the goal this season. I want to push on and play as much as possible.”

Lawrence impressed against Bath last Saturday as he crossed in the second half but the midfield ace was not entirely happy with his display.

“It was my first performance in a long time so it was good to get a run-out,” Lawrence said.

“There were mistakes that I will go over with the coaches and certain players but I was just happy to play 80 minutes again.

“That was the main thing for me.”