SIXWAYS' famous Friday night roar will be a big part of Worcester Warriors' armoury when they host London Irish this week (8pm).

That's the opinion of Warriors head coach Clive Grif-fiths, who has called on the Worcester faithful to get behind their team now more than ever.

Former Doncaster Knights director of rugby Griffiths understands the followers' frustrations with the way the team is performing at the moment, but has urged them to keep the faith.

He said: "We need the fans' support because that helps us have a big home advantage, but if they get on the players' backs it gives the opposition a lift. We need the supporters to stick with the team."

Griffiths also admitted that the mid-season break had not worked as hoped and is an experiment that will not be repeated in the future.

He added: "We were all on a high after the Bristol game and then we had the week off and maybe that was not the best thing to do.

"At the time, the coaching and conditioning staff thought it would be the best thing for the players, but it has not worked out so well and it is not something we will be doing again."

After Warriors' error-strewn defeat at Harlequins on Saturday, director of rugby Mike Ruddock said he would be getting a top-flight referee in to talk to his squad about their high penalty-count.

Guinness Premiership referee Wayne Barnes spent yesterday at Sixways reviewing the Quins match video with the Warriors players, highlighting what was going wrong.

Griffiths added: "It is nice to get the opinion from a referee. We have been perplexed by some of the decisions that have been going against us."