WORCESTER Warriors chief Dean Ryan admitted their comprehensive 43-19 home defeat against Saracens was a “stark reminder” of the gap between the clubs.

The Sixways club were also thumped 48-18 by the Aviva Premiership’s defending champions at Twickenham in November.

Warriors went toe-to-toe with Sarries for most of the opening 40 minutes in their final Premiership match of the campaign.

But two quick-fire tries before the break swept the visitors into an unassailable 29-14 half-time lead.

Sarries wing Chris Ashton finished with a hat-trick of tries, while energetic full-back Alex Goode stole the show with some thrilling counter-attack breaks.

Ryan said: “It was stark reminder of the gap between the top and where we are, especially with some of the depth of the squad.

“It probably captured how fortunate we were to get through most of the season with 16 or 17 guys.

“For this club to keep moving forward, it has to increase the depth and you increase the depth by bringing in better players while retaining the better ones.

“I don’t think it was anything we didn’t already know.

“We certainly go off into the summer break with a stark reminder of the distance between the two sides.

“Saracens are an outstanding side, irrespective of who is on the field for them.

“In that 15-minute spell before half-time, we were nowhere near to them and we couldn’t put a hand on them. I think you sometimes have to accept that’s the challenge we have got at this club.”

Warriors finish the season in 10th spot, eight points better off than second-from-bottom Newcastle Falcons but 13 adrift of ninth-placed Bath.

After securing their Premiership status with a victory against London Irish, Warriors ended the campaign with successive defeats to Exeter Chiefs, Wasps, Leicester Tigers and Saracens.

Ryan said: “We would like to have been more competitive (against Saracens) but sometimes you have to accept you weren’t.

“There was a clear differential between some of the ability of our players and theirs. We weren’t able to match that enough.

“We were under a lot of pressure, didn’t kick very well and didn’t have enough numbers in the line and therefore a good side will score against you.

“That does disappoint me but I am not going to cloud the end of the season with a rant about defence.

“Saracens are quite clearly one of the best sides in Europe. We can attack but we have a lot of work to do to compete for long periods of time against a quality team like them.”