WORCESTER Warriors director of rugby John Brain is almost certain to bring back Pat Sanderson for tomorrow's showdown at Bristol.

But he remains adamant that the player's absence was not the reason for a run of three Premiership defeats in 13 days after Christmas.

Skipper Sanderson picked up a back injury in mid-December that prevented him playing in the matches against Bath, Newcastle Falcons and Northampton Saints.

Worcester lost all three of those fixtures but Brain insists the results were not down to a lack of leadership.

He said: "Pat does make a positive difference to us when he plays, but I think the issues we had over Christmas had nothing to do with one player.

"Tony Windo leads the side very well. We do miss a player of Pat's influence, whether or not he's captain. He would have made a positive difference but it is no good looking back."

Worcester's form has recovered somewhat in the last two matches and they go into the Bristol game having secured back-to-back wins in the European Challenge Cup.

The latest win, at Montpellier last Friday, provided Brain with evidence that his side are back on track.

"I think there were a lot of positive aspects to our performance," he said. "It was always going to be a tough game. I think over the last two weeks our performance has improved from over Christmas. We have taken a couple of steps forward."

Despite his optimism, Brain is under no illusions about the size of the task facing his side at the Memorial Ground.

"Bristol have done extremely well in most of their home appearances," he said. "They would expect to win. They have beaten Leicester and they have beaten Sale at home.

"Most of their first-choice team won't have played for three weeks so they have been freshened up for this fixture.

"They are focused on getting as many Premiership points as they can but we are the same and we can take a good leap above them with a win.

"It is important for us to get back on the winning track. We know it will be tough."

Nathan Budgett will make his debut for Bristol in the match, which will be televised live on Sky.

The lock is one of 14 changes made by head coach Richard Hill from the side that went out of Europe against Narbonne.

Hill said: "We've brought Nathan in for his line-out presence because the Worcester line-out is tremendous."