WE took another step towards safety on Friday evening.

The victory over Sale illustrated, to a nationwide audience, just how we are developing as a team as we moved further away from the drop zone.

We were 10 points clear on Friday night although Northampton's shock win over Leicester once again proved that you cannot take anything for granted in this league.

As it stands today, we are seven points clear of bottom club Leeds so we've still got a long way to go before we make sure of our place in next season's Premiership.

People are saying it's the most exciting relegation battle for many a season and I guess that's testament to what we've achieved in our first top flight campaign.

When you get to this stage of the season, results are paramount. But we have to perform to enable those results. On Friday, we did that for the majority of the game and ran out comfortable winners.

What I was pleased about was our hunger to go out there and play. We started with a great tempo and got Sale on the back foot from the off. That was important because the pressure was on us to continue our good run and put a depleted Sharks side to the sword. That was how the game was billed and, in the wake of our heavy defeat at their place in September, it was another indicator of the strides that had been made in those six months.

When you're wrapped up in a game as a coach, you don't tend to look at the match as good or bad television! However, I think the sell-out crowd and the Sky Sports audience got their money's worth. There was some good, skillful rugby on show, nice tries, power performances by both packs and some needle as well when things spilt over. Once again, the Friday night game was an all-round success for us and that's three in a row.

There's been a little Press speculation this week concerning Drew Hickey. He's out of contract in the summer and, at 26, his new deal is going to be a pivotal one for his career. I think Drew has enjoyed his two years at Worcester but he's got a lot to weigh up. Certainly, we want him to stay and there is a contract on the table for him. However, he could move back to Australia or he may feel the need to turn to Ireland because of his international ambitions.

There are many balls to juggle for a professional rugby player and, as I know from my time at Natal, it's not always a straightforward decision. There are sometimes many factors.

I think we're making good progress with Matt Powell. He's also out of contract but talks are going well and I would expect a speedy resolution there. Matt's added the consistency factor to his game this season and he's one of a number of players who have improved as the season has progressed.

It's an interesting time for players who are coming to the end of their deals. I think they enjoy the odd television game because it cranks the level of exposure up another couple of notches! We saw on Friday that our players rise to the challenge of playing in front of live cameras. They're certainly not shy!

What also pleased me was the commitment of the squad. Many, like Drew, Pat Sanderson and Tim Collier, had literally got out of their sick beds for the game after training very little but all three put in the tackles and ran around like their lives depended on it. That sort of commitment is wonderful and a credit to the players because they were determined not to let their team-mates down.

People wrote us off at the start of the season but that sort of never-say-die attitude will take you a long, long way. We're not finished yet, though, and the message from Sixways is that we'll keep on working until the fat lady needs lozenges!