WORCESTER Rugby Club chairman Cecil Duckworth has given Adrian Skeggs a vote of confidence by insisting the Australian will stay on as coach.

Despite it looking increasingly unlikely that Worcester will gain promotion to the Zurich Premiership after Sunday's 30-13 defeat at Leeds Tykes, Duckworth is keen to keep Skeggs at the club.

And he is also hopeful that chief executive Geoff Cooke will stay at Sixways as the club look forward to next season's promotion push.

He said: "I'm sure Geoff Cooke and Adrian Skeggs will continue at the club -- we haven't talked about anything other than that.

"I certainly think Geoff has the appetite for the job for a few years yet. We might look, in the next week or so, of maybe changing the roles slightly or possibly adding to the coaching staff.

"Planning has to start for next season whether or not we go up. We were very close this year but it looks as if we might just miss out."

Duckworth is keen to keep continuity and believes the club will benefit from the base which has been built this season with Cooke and Skeggs.

"I think we want continuity -- that is what we are looking for at the moment. However, we will finalise the roles within the next few weeks.

"What is absolutely magic is that we should know that we are playing for automatic promotion from the start of next season."

Any fears that Sunday's defeat could see Duckworth pull out of Worcester have also been quashed by the club's benefactor who is now planning for the future.

"Now we have a degree of certainty over promotion to the Premiership, we can plan ahead with making the club a PLC. I think, with that in mind, there is a good chance of it being profitable in the future."