BACK rower Marco Mama starts for Bristol tonight in their Greene King IPA Championship play-off final first leg at Doncaster Knights (7.45pm).

Mama, who is joining Worcester Warriors on a permanent basis in the summer, missed Bristol’s last game with a hand injury.

The Nigerian-born player enjoyed a loan spell at Worcester and made nine Aviva Premiership appearances for the club before returning to Ashton Gate at the end of February.

Mama was in the Bristol side denied promotion to the Premiership 12 months ago by Warriors after a remarkable two legged final.

Warriors won the first leg 29-28 at Ashton Gate and then fought back from 30-16 down in the return at Sixways to secure a 30-30 draw.

A last-gasp Chris Pennell try and a conversion from Ryan Lamb gave Warriors a heart-stopping 59-58 aggregate triumph.

Former Warriors assistant coach Clive Griffiths, the deputy to Mike Ruddock at Sixways from May 2006 to January 2009, is Doncaster’s director of rugby.

Bristol finished top of the Championship table, 16 points clear of Doncaster and are overwhelming favourites to clinch promotion.

But Bristol have been in the Championship since suffering relegation from the Premiership at the end of the 2008/09 season.

Warriors director of rugby Dean Ryan said: “There’s been an expectation around Bristol for a long time so I have given up trying to predict the Championship play-offs.

“I don’t think it’s as clear as everybody wants it to be – it never is.

“Play-off rugby is slightly different from normal rugby as we saw and experienced last year.”

Bristol head to Castle Park on the back of 15 successive Championship wins in the regular season and play-offs.

It is a run stretching back to last November, when Doncaster beat them 39-27 at Ashton Gate.

The second leg of the final takes place at Ashton Gate next Wednesday.