ANDY Keast believes that supporters will only see the best of Worcester when their injured forwards return.

The Sixways head coach has endured a torrid start to the season with injuries dominating the Warriors' preparations for their opening four Premiership matches.

Tight-head props Neil Lyman, Chris Horsman and trialist Colin Noon were all injured at the same time during the campaign, leaving Worcester down to the bare bones.

However, with Lyman almost fit to return after his sternum injury and Horsman hopeful of making a comeback following a broken hand, Keast is keeping his fingers crossed that his side will soon be full strength for the first time this season.

"You're always going to struggle to score tries if you are defending for 80 minutes and that was the case on Friday at Sale," said Keast, referring to Worcester's 57-3 defeat at Edgeley Park.

"I've been asked the question whether I think us scoring tries will be a problem. I can only answer that when we've got the full forward pack back.

"When we are on the front foot, we will score tries. You can't on the back foot. Let's see what happens when we are playing on the front foot."

Meanwhile, Tommy Hayes has been jogging this week as he battles to recover from a knee injury.

The fly half, who injured knee ligaments during Worcester's defeat to Bath last month, is eyeing the Leeds Tykes game as a possible comeback date. Keast, though, will not be rushing him back.

"Obviously, when you look at the Premiership table, you can see the significance of our next two games (Harlequins and Leeds Tykes).

"We want Tommy back in the squad as soon as possible but, at the same time, we don't want Tommy out for an extended period so we must make sure he's made a full recovery before he comes back.

"Tommy's a very dangerous player and a key component of the squad so we want him back but we need to be careful with him."