WORCESTER Warriors backrow forward Marco Mama says he can now watch footage of last season's Greene King IPA Championship final.

Mama suffered promotion heartache 13 months ago when he was in the Bristol side pipped to promotion by just one point by Warriors.

And Mama says he would like nothing more than to guide Bristol into the Aviva Premiership at the end of this season.

Nigerian-born Mama is on course for a third successive Championship play-off final.

The flanker is finishing off the season at his parent club Bristol before joining Worcester on a two-year deal in the summer.

He said: “I have a lot of friends and a strong attachment at Bristol so I would like nothing more than to help Bristol get promoted and be able to compete against them in the Premiership next season.

“The footage of last season’s play-off final often comes up as a suggested YouTube clip so I have watched it back out of interest more than anything.

"I was in a very different mental space on that evening and it’s interesting to look back at it

"I am a Worcester player now and that match is a memory. I was very fortunate to have a loan agreement in my contract and to get taste of Premiership rugby.”

Mama will be lining up against Bedford Blues on Sunday in the first leg of Bristol's play-off semi-final.

Bristol are hot favourites to overcome Bedford and secure a promotion shoot-out with Yorkshire Carnegie or Doncaster Knights in the final over two legs on May 18 and 25.

Mama, 25, returned to Bristol at the end of February after a successful loan spell at Warriors which yielded nine Premiership appearances.

Reflecting on his loan spell at Sixways, Mama said: “I enjoyed my time at Worcester and got out of it what I wanted which was Premiership experience and to see how I fared with it.

“It was fantastic to get a Premiership deal off the back of it so it was a very productive and successful spell.

“I want to play Premiership rugby if possible and the decision to sign for Worcester was centred around the fact they were in the Premiership. But there were many other things which brought me to Worcester too. 

“It was hard to leave Worcester when I did, particularly because they will be my club for the next two seasons.”

Mama said the highlight during his loan spell at Warriors was their dramatic 13-12 opening-night triumph against Northampton Saints in October.

“Northampton was probably my biggest moment,” said Mama.

“It was my first Premiership game and to win it in such dramatic style was incredible.

“It was nice to start on a high and when I come back hopefully we can have a couple more of those highs next season."

He added: “We have got some good quality across the backrow.

“I used to watch a lot of Dewald Potgieter when I grew up in Zimbabwe and he was playing for the Blue Bulls.

“He was a player I always looked up to and rated highly so it was great to be in an environment with those sorts of players."

Should Bristol reach the play-off final, Mama’s season will run until the end of May.

“I am going to have some time off and I have booked a bit of holiday," he said.

“I have spoken to Dean Ryan and I will be starting pre-season a little bit later but I am looking forward to it.

“It will be nice to have my feet on the ground and settle into a place for at least two years.”