CRAIG Chalmers is the shock omission from Wor-cester Rugby Club's squad bound for Rotherham.

The former British Lions fly-half has not been included in the 25-man squad which travels to Millmoor for the National One showdown on Saturday.

Coaches John Brain and Andy Keast have plumped for Tim Walsh and rookie Jon Higgins as Worcester go in search of what would be a vital victory in the promotion race.

Walsh has been impressive since his switch from New Zealand outfit North Harbour but Chalmers' exclusion is still surprising after being first choice for much of the season.

"We always pick a side which we feel will do the best job against that particular opposition and that's what we've done," said Keast.

"Looking at the fly-halves, we feel that Walsh has shown the skill levels that help us in the way we are trying to play the game. It's not about who is better than who, it's about picking a team to beat a certain opposition.

"Walsh and Higgins have more component parts, we feel, than Chal-mers for this game. But Craig has other parts to his game that will be vital in other matches this season."

"Craig is not very happy about it," added Brain. "He is very disappointed to miss out on a big game but we wanted to start with Tim Walsh and then it was a decision over who would be on the bench. Whether it's the right decision or not -- we'll only know on Saturday night."

David Officer has been included in the squad although he was walking with crutches yesterday after injuring his ankle during training. Brain and Keast will give him all the time they can to prove his fitness because of Ben Hinshelwood's Scotland duty and James Ogilvie-Bull's knee injury which keeps him out of the squad.

Gavin Pfister's broken nose -- picked up against Wakefield last Saturday -- has ended his hopes of playing and Worcester must now sweat on Richard Nias and Richard Bates.

Nias injured his neck in the Wakefield game last Saturday, while Bates had to leave the field with a shoulder problem. Both are rated no more than 50-50.

Squad: Roke, Southwell, Ezulike, Officer, Trueman, Garrard, Walsh, Swanepoel, Higgins, O'Reilly, Rich-ardson. Windo, Pearson, Lyman, Hall, Olver, Zaltzman, Morgan, Gillies, Gabey, N Mason, G Mason, Jenner, Nias, Bates.