JOHN Brain believes his side have exorcised the ghosts of Coventry after Worcester Rugby Club's 45-0 demolition of Lydney.

The Sixways chief was satisfied with Worcester's display in the National Cup third round clash in Gloucestershire, especially as the home side were unable to score.

The visitors racked up seven tries with Tony Yapp scoring a hat trick and Duncan Roke (2), Winston Stanley and Richard Smith also touching down.

And for Brain, the exercise was an important one not just to recover from last Saturday's 31-22 defeat by Coventry but also to prepare for this weekend's trip to Wakefield.

"I think it was important to have a week away from the league," he said. "Any league club we would have played today would have fancied their chances in the wake of the Coventry result.

"It was such an unexpected result for everyone and if we had gone to Wakefield on the back of that, they would certainly have fancied it.

"We've come away from a difficult looking fixture with a very satisfying result and performance and we need to build on this in preparation for Wakefield.

"It's a performance that we needed after Coventry. That sort of result can put a big dent in your confidence."

With centre Chris Yates pulling out of the game on Saturday with a sore throat, Brain took the opportunity to look at different options within the backs.

Stanley switched to full back, Roke and Ben Hinshelwood took centre stage while Sateki Tuipulotu and Alistair Murdoch were on the wing.

"I thought the two centres did well. Winston was happy to play full-back - he's a Test full back so that's not a problem - and it was good to see him play there.

"We always felt we had the beating of them outside. We've got to move the ball out to the backs more, we didn't do that last week. When we got quick ball to the backs, we finished very well.

"We've got a lot of options in the backs. It's just a case of looking who is on form and then picking the best balance in that area."

Murdoch - who played his first game of the season after a rib injury - limped off in the second half with an ankle problem and is now a doubt for Saturday's trip to Yorkshire. Replacement Andy Collins also injured an ankle on the final whistle to add to Brain's growing list.

"Someone stood on Alistair's ankle and it's very sore," added Brain. "Andy's twisted his ankle right at the very end. I don't see either as serious injuries however."