JOB HUNTING tightheads who are beginning to hear Worcester's march on the Premiership should think on.

Neil Lyman is not about to give up.

Every year the prop, who began his career down the road in Kidderminster, is faced with a fresh challenge. A new name comes through the door intent on taking that number three shirt. Only thing is, at the end of the season, it is always on the back of the former fireman.

At any club a stay of more than 10 years is something to be proud of but at Worcester, with a turnover rate comparable to Sweeney Todd's customer base, Lyman's achievement is all the more incredible.

The 33-year-old has been faced with more of the same this season. Lee Fortey has given Lyman a run for his money for a front row berth but when the big match arrived on Saturday, the coaches plumped for the ex-Moseley man.

"It was great to be given the nod because Lee and I have been battling it out all season," said Lyman.

"With our coaches John Brain and Andy Keast, if they think you're a decent player they will tell you. That helps confidence and I've always been one to rise to a challenge.

"The coaches, in the last three or four years, have brought in new props who started the season and they, at the time, must have thought they were better than me. I always just said to myself -- it's time to prove them wrong!

"They brought in a big Argentinian a few years back and even though he was a lot bigger than me, I held my own."

Once again on Saturday, Lyman more than held his own but was taken aback by the supporters and the occasion.

"To win there was just brilliant. I've been waiting for that for 10 years now. Really, if I think through all the years I've been at Worcester, Saturday was the best memory.

"It out-ranks all the rest because it was so significant. It was quite a day because the supporters were unbelievable.

"I remember when we used to play in front of 150 people and when you see around 2,500 fans away from home then you realise how far the club have come. It reminded me of when I played for Moseley at Gloucester in front of the shed."

Crowds of more than 5,000 at Sixways are testament to that growth and if they can come through the final 11 games of the season without a hitch, they will finally be there. The club with the biggest potential in the game would have finally arrived. For Lyman, who last tasted Premiership action 13 years ago, it would a dream come true.

"It would be amazing wouldn't it?" he added. "To get back in there against internationals and proven players would be superb and to be involved in a Premiership match at Sixways would just be brilliant.

"We're not there yet, though, and there are some very hard games to come before we can start looking to that. I think, though, that there's a real belief now and everybody's feet are well and truly on the ground.

"If you look at the squad we have now, I think we have people who are at Worcester because they are good players rather than big names.

"In my time, this is the best squad I've been part of. Even Werner Swanepoel --probably the biggest name in the squad -- is a really down to earth guy who just gets on with it.

"There aren't any big 'I ams' in the squad and that helps. The present regime look at the player before the name and that's important. In the past some players have come in and expected special treatment.

"There's none of that now. You've got to have a squad of players that are all singing from the same hymn sheet, that want to play for the club. We've certainly got that now."

The dismantling of common perceptions is always a difficult one but for Lyman, Saturday's 15-7 win at Orrell proved a point or two to the wider rugby world.

"Saturday was great because we came away from Orrell and nobody could take a cheap shot at us over money. We've always been seen as the fancy dans of rugby but, in reality, there are plenty of other rugby clubs out there with more money than Worcester.

"It's really annoying but the fact that we won shut a few people up and that was nice."