STEVE Townend could be forgiven for indulging in a romantic vision when he returns to his spiritual home on Saturday.

The 42-year-old makes his first trip back to Wakefield since his summer Sixways move with a Worcester team desperate for points as they try to re-invigorate their promotion dream.

Rather than hoping everyone will come out smiling when he comes home, however, Townend, ever the pragmatist, is well aware that the Sporting Gods can be desperately unkind.

Townend began playing for the Yorkshire club in 1979 and graduated to first-teamer before becoming assistant coach and finally, in 1997, director of rugby.

Twenty two years, though, will be forgotten at the weekend as his new love tackles the old flame.

And with Wakefield desperately looking for a result, second from bottom of National One and without a league win this season, Townend knows a Worcester victory will push his former club further into the mire.

"I was there for a long time," he said. "I certainly think the players and the people immediately associated with the club will give me a good reception. What I will get from the spectators and supporters . . . we shall just have to wait and see on that! I'm looking forward to the game though, I'm certainly not apprehensive about it.

"I made a decision to come to Worcester and it is a job as far as I'm concerned. While there is some sentimentality attached to my old club, Worcester are now my team - it's as simple as that. Put it this way, I will be extremely disappointed if they go down but I'll be more disappointed if we don't get promoted!"

Having seen clubs such as Waterloo and Orrell fall through the National One trap-door last season, however, Townend believes the game can ill afford to keep on losing such heritage from the top divisions.

"The game definitely needs clubs like Wakefield. It's difficult in the North because the better players are probably spread thinner at the senior clubs. And today there are what we would call junior clubs who are very ambitious and quite prepared to throw money at getting promoted.

"It would be very unfortunate if we lost another club with so much heritage and we are in danger of seeing the West Hartlepool syndrome if they do go down. Sadly, though, it has been a symptom of the professional game. That is the difficulty of the modern era for the older clubs."

Townend has certainly had his fair share of troubled times since the onset of the professional era. None more so than the time 90 per cent of Wakefield employees' contracts were terminated after directors re-evaluated the budget.

"That was a very difficult time. We lost a number of players but we survived and in hindsight, it was probably a good decision. For me though, they could have paid me two and six and I'd still have stayed at the club. From my point of view, the money side of rugby has never been a factor in what I've done in the game. Likewise when I changed clubs - it was to fulfil an ambition rather than for financial gain."

And now, on the other side of the fence, the former estate agent is in the best position to contrast the vastly different clubs.

"There is a massive difference between Worcester and Wakefield," he added. "Last season I was in control of the budget and we relied mainly on the £210,000 we received from the RFU. That was topped up by three or four directors. The players' budget was no more than £300,000 so that puts it into perspective. The average player would be on around £12-15,000 but there are still many who just receive appearance fees and win bonuses. That would be something like £50 for appearance, £50 for a home win and £75 for an away win."

Moving clubs has also seen a switch in pressures for Townend who is already beginning to see how difficult it is to make your mark at Worcester, such are the levels of expectation.

"Success at Worcester is determined with promotion. At Wakefield the goal was not as high but there were natural pressures that came with the job. I don't feel under more pressure here at Worcester though, it's just different.

"One of the differences which comes with the extra pressure is maybe you cannot take a gamble any more with selection. At Wakefield you could bring on young players and give them opportunities because the pressure on each game wasn't as acute as at Worcester. Unfortunately the chances for young players here are not as evident because of those pressures."

Having seen the turnover of coaches at Worcester in recent years, it would be natural for the former Yorkshire back to feel a little less secure in his job in the wake of the recent Coventry defeat. Townend, however, is not about to start fretting over the future.

"I have a two year contract here and hope to see it out. I'm not worried about the job security - I do my job to the best of my ability and if you give a job everything you have, you cannot be worried about the future."

The future, however, will be the overwhelming focus for those at College Grove on Saturday night, most notably for the losers.