RELEGATION rivals Worcester Warriors and London Irish will go head-to-head tomorrow night in what Jono Lance has billed as a “grand final” (7.45pm).

Around 10,000 fans are expected to flock to Sixways for the Aviva Premiership clash between two teams desperate to boost their survival hopes.

Bottom club Irish are six points adrift of safety and fly-half Lance insists Warriors are relishing the chance to open up a bigger gap.

“This is a massive game,” said Lance who joined Worcester on a short-term deal in October.

“In the three months I have been here I have learned there are many different competitions you play in but the main one is the Premiership.

“It’s a big deal for Worcester to be part of the Premiership so there is almost like a grand final feel to this game.

“I don’t think it is a bad thing that people view it in that way.

“It has resulted in good training sessions as everyone has been concentrating on their own roles.

“It is going to be a really good crowd at Sixways so the boys are excited about that and playing our best footy.

“It’s only natural for us to be more up for it.

“If we get the win there will be a bigger gap but it is a long season so there is a lot that can happen before then.

“We have trained well this week and will come out firing tonight.”

Warriors could be further clear of the Exiles if they had beaten 14-man Sale Sharks at home earlier this month.

But Gary Gold’s men, who had stunned Northampton Saints and Leicester Tigers in previous weeks, squandered the opportunity as a late Mark Jennings try clinched an 18-14 victory for Sharks.

“The Sale game was very disappointing,” Lance said.

“We feel like we let ourselves down and I think that was as a result of us being too excited from the three previous Premiership games.

“But we learned a lot from that match.

“When we play well we know we are pretty tough to handle so for us to play in front of what could be a packed Sixways in what is a very important game is really exciting.”

Boss Gold admitted his side “hit the ground with a bump” following the disappointing loss to Sale and reckoned they would have their “work cut out” against Irish.

“The biggest lesson we learned was that nobody should be taken lightly so we need to bring our A game every week,” Gold added.

“This is not a bad London Irish team.

“I didn’t think we were a bad team last season when we were at the bottom and we know what happened there.

“They have got a great bunch of coaches and I know how hard they have worked so we are going to have our hands full.

“But we don’t have to worry about what the opposition are going to do.

“I have seen it far too often when we get completely caught up in analysis of the opposition and take our eye off the things we need to do.

“There are certain things that when we do them well we play good rugby and we need to be very focused on that.”