DON'T panic troops!

That's the message from captain Sanderson after Worcester's opening-day defeat to Newcastle.

True enough, the Warriors' 30-9 loss didn't make easy watching for supporters brought up on a weekly diet of National One demolitions.

However, far from being downbeat, Worcester are relishing their next foray in the big time when they travel to Saracens on Sunday.

For Pat Sanderson -- named skipper for the day -- it is the next step in the Sixways evolution.

"You have to look at Sunday's game with Newcastle as just one match," he said.

"We're middle of the table at present after one game. Obviously, it was disappointing to lose the match but we've put it in a box and we'll take out of it what we need to move forward. There's no panic here.

"For the first game of the season, there was a lot of emotion around Sixways and quite a few nerves because it was such a big deal for the club -- the first taste of the Premiership.

"That has an effect on the players and it's nice to get that out of the way and get on with a league campaign."

That Newcastle went on to win the match comfortably is a clear irritation to everybody at Sixways but there were enough reasons, on the day, to be positive about the future.

"We played a lot of good rugby," he added. "We certainly weren't shy of seeing a bit of ball which was good because, first and foremost, you've obviously got to have the ball to make any progress.

"We've got to make sure that we play a consistent 80 minutes rather than two lots of 30.

"We're a new squad. There's 14 new players and it will take time for us all to gel, there's no doubt about that. However, we're getting better all the time because we've worked very hard in pre-season and already we're a tightly-knit group of players."

With Jonny Wilkinson's return to fitness, the media spotlight was very much on Sixways and, somewhat predictably, much of the coverage -- after a 30-9 defeat -- was hardly complimentary about Worcester's chances of avoiding the drop.

"It doesn't bother us," said the openside flanker, who made the Sixways switch from Harlequins in the summer.

"We tend not to pay much attention to it all whether we're being praised or criticised. It's better to look at the game on the video yourself rather than taking somebody else's view on the match.

"We've pretty much ignored the media reaction."

With England on the lookout for a new number seven, this season is arguably as important for Sanderson personally as it is for his new club. And after being named captain, the 27-year-old will be a key figure for the Warriors this season.

"It was a great honour to be named captain," he said.

"More so after only being here a short space of time. They are a fantastic set of guys at Worcester and they're easy to captain but I'm also very aware that Ben Hinshelwood is the club captain here at Sixways.

"If I'm captain again, then I'll do my best but Ben is club captain and nobody is under any illusion about that.

"This season is massive for me. There's change at the top for England but success at that level only comes after success at your club. I'm fully aware of that so we've got to win, win well and play well."