DEAN Ryan is hoping a raucous Friday night crowd at Sixways can prove to be the X-factor for his Warriors side when they entertain Harlequins this week (7.45pm).

A disappointing turn-out of just 6,994 watched Worcester lose 20-18 to London Irish on home turf on Saturday, but director of rugby Ryan feels the buzzing atmosphere that so often accompanies evening games at Sixways can give his side a lift.

“Friday nights here at Sixways are pretty special by all accounts as we get a few people here and the place jumps around a bit,” said Ryan. “Quins are one of the best rugby sides around, the champions of two years ago and I like what they do a lot. I’m looking forward to putting them up against it.

“We’re not going to get caught up in the week-to-week ‘that was good, that was bad’, we will just be welcoming Quins here and seeing if we can rattle them.”

The Warriors chief added: “Nick Evans didn’t kick very well in the first-half of Quins’ defeat to Northampton last weekend and I’m not sure you could write that again.

“They’ll be looking to bounce back and they’re a good side who play at a high tempo and have a lot of really classy, individual broken-field runners, which we will have to try and keep under control.

“If we can do that, then hopefully we will see elements of what we did last week and we can cause them a few problems. There’s no doubt this side can play some football – we just need to get some clarity around our roles and some discipline around out detail, making sure everyone knows what they’re doing, rather than rushing around and being a little bit ragged.

“We have a few people with bumps as normal and there were a couple of injuries in pre-season, but I think we’re OK.”