WORCESTER Warriors look set to give academy prop Gareth Milasinovich European Challenge Cup experience against Italian club Zebre in Parma on Saturday (2pm GMT).

The prop, who is English-qualified, arrived at Sixways in the summer from the University of Johannesburg in South Africa where he played Varsity Cup rugby.

Milasinovich, who turns 23 next month, was yellow-carded within moments of coming into the fray in last Saturday’s 19-3 victory against French club La Rochelle at Sixways.

But Milasinovich had an impact when he came back on to the field and tidied up the scrum as Worcester’s set-piece had the edge in the closing stages.

Head coach Carl Hogg says Milasinovich is a young player who Warriors are keen to develop.

“He’s a heck of a physical specimen and it’s an opportunity for him to go out and deliver around set-piece,” said Hogg.

“If he can deliver at the scrum then he’s in a really good place. He’s got the physical attributes to do it and we are now going to test that at the weekend.

“I think Gareth has got the physical ability to cope whether it’s at European or Premiership level.

“He’s got the physical capability and it’s whether he can technically deliver under pressure and that’s why games like the one at the weekend are key for us.

“You can practise and train scrums but when you are going live and there’s the movement of the game and you’re feeling fatigued and blowing, then being able to hold your mind and head and  deliver your job around set-piece and scrum is tough.

“But if you get that right, you become a huge bonus for us."

Hogg says Warriors will be fielding a squad similar to one against La Rochelle and confirmed they didn’t pick up any injury worries in their opener.

He added: “We want competition for places and this weekend is no different.

“We are going to Zebre and it will be a similar team who played against La Rochelle but we want to create chances and we want to create healthy competition for places.

“We will respect the competition and respect Zebre. They have won a couple of games at home in the Pro12 this season.

"We want to create a performance but it must be done collectively and then individuals will benefit from it.”