JOHN Brain was proud of his Worcester Warriors despite their 18-13 defeat to Gloucester.

The Warriors' director of rugby saw his side go down in the first ever Zurich Premiership derby between the two clubs. However, Brain believes Worcester are moving in the right direction.

"I thought our players fronted up, which you need to do against Gloucester," said Brain.

"We could have won the game but what you're searching for at this level is that extra one per cent. We didn't quite have it to win.

"However, I've said to the lads in the dressing room that they can be proud of their efforts. They've pushed a side, that's widely regarded as one of the top ten teams in Europe, very close.

"We are at home, though, and we've lost the game so we're disappointed about that.

"At the moment, we've come quite a long way in a short period of time," added Brain, referring to his side's recent promotion.

"We're looking like we could make the transition to this league. However, we need to find that extra one to five percent to make that transition successfully.

"Myself and head coach Andy Keast are not in the business of being nearly men. We want to win, we like winning and we hate losing. We've lost again and we're very disappointed. We need to finish off our chances when we create them.

"Overall, though, I think there are many more aspects to our play that are positive rather than negative."

Gloucester were relieved after coming away with the victory but Nigel Melville praised Worcester's efforts. "Worcester are not a Rotherham," said Gloucester's director of rugby Melville."They're going to be taking points off teams. If you come to Worcester, don't take them lightly.

"Harlequins took them lightly and lost. We didn't and we've managed to get a win which we're delighted about. Worcester are a very well organised side so we're very pleased to come out on top. They are going to make it much more exciting this season for the Premiership.

"It was a good, old fashioned derby which we've just managed to win. This match was what derbies are all about."