DIRECTOR of rugby Alan Solomons insists Worcester Warriors will be focusing “solely” on the Gallagher Premiership this season in a bid to secure a top-six spot.

Warriors reached the knockout stages of the European Challenge Cup and Premiership Cup in the 2018-19 campaign.

There is also an outside chance Worcester could make the semi-finals of the Premiership Cup again as they head to Wasps on Saturday (3pm) needing a bonus-point win to stand any realistic hope of progressing.

However Solomons believes Warriors do not have enough experience in their squad to challenge on all front this term.

“We are not ready to compete in all competitions,” said Solomons at the supporters’ forum at Sixways this week.

“We can be a top-six side but we need to focus solely on the Premiership.

“Everything is geared towards those 22 Premiership games.

“If we have good fortune with injury and play with a level of commitment that we played with on Friday night (against Exeter Chiefs) I believe we have the ability to be a top-six side.

“We can’t spread our resources too thin.

“It’s not because we don’t have good players. We just don’t have that level of experience.

“A lot of our depth in our squad comes from our younger players.

“You have to have the experience and the youth and I think we have got that balance.

“But at the moment our youth needs just that little bit more experience to put us in a position to compete on all fronts.

“We certainly have enough (to make the top six) if we focus solely on the Premiership and don’t worry about the other games.”

Warriors have not finished outside the bottom three since 2006 when they came eighth which remains their best ever top-flight finish.

Solomons joined Warriors in October 2017, taking on a coaching role before landing the top job two months later.

And the veteran coach said he was keen to shift the emphasis at the club when he arrived.

“I remember Hoggy (Carl Hogg, ex-Worcester head coach), who is a great coach, saying to me ‘We are competing for the Challenge Cup’,” Solomons recalled.

“I said to him ‘Are you insane? You might be competing, but we are not competing for the Challenge Cup. We can laugh that off. That’s not happening'.

“We are fighting for our lives here as we have one point after six games. Everything is focused on the Premiership.”

Newcastle Falcons qualified for the Heineken Cup after finishing the 2017-18 campaign in fourth place only to be relegated the following season.

“If you are good enough to make the top six you are good enough to compete in the Champions Cup,” Solomons said.

“But you have to make sure you have the strength in depth, so you are able to rotate.

“If we keep all these youngsters we will be in a position where we can rotate.”