WORCESTER Warriors can’t rely on Francois Hougaard to save their Aviva Premiership status, insists stand-in skipper Phil Dowson.

The former Northampton Saints flanker believes the problems at second-bottom Warriors run deeper than the scrum-half position which Hougaard is expected to fill on his return from injury.

Warriors conceded seven tries in a 55-19 “hiding” at Kingsholm yesterday which leaves them one point above basement boys Bristol.

Warriors have failed to pick up a point on their travels this term and not won away since beating Harlequins last March.

“We can’t wait for one superman (Hougaard) to come back and try to turn it around,” said Dowson.

“The young lads have proven that at Bath away and at games at home they are more than capable.

“(Jamie) Shillcock is quality and I’ve got no doubts about him. Dean Hammond is another classic example.

“There’s some of the older boys, including me, who are making some disgusting mistakes as well so it’s nothing to do with age or experience it’s about getting it right on the field.”

Scrum-half Hougaard has not played for Warriors since April but is now returning to training after a shoulder operation in the autumn.

Dowson said: “Hougaard is an unbelievably good player so it will be great to have him back. But there are bigger problems than the scrum-half position.

“I think Mike (Dowsett) is a great player and it’s great to have Luke Baldwin back because he’s a great bloke and a great player. We have leaked 55 points and that’s not down to just one man and we have to look at ourselves.”

Dowson bemoaned the lack of “character” from Warriors and accepted they were without energy and intensity in the match.

“We didn’t show any character to put Gloucester under pressure and away from home we have been poor throughout the season,” said Dowson.

“It was another day when we have taken a hiding and we need to right this ship immediately and get stuck in.

“The high intensity and energy was great against Harlequins but it dropped off.

“The positive thing is we have got the ability in the squad but the huge negative is it doesn’t show up away from home.

“It’s a question of concentration and character and all sorts of things and it’s something we have to rectify as soon as possible.

"We are in a relegation dogfight now. It’s a scrap and we have no momentum and we have four weeks to put it back together again.”

Dowson refused to blame individuals for Warriors’ woes and said it was the responsibility of the players to put things right.

“No-one is going out there to get drilled by 50 points,” said Dowson.

“There was loads of effort but also a lot of mistakes and we were off the pace.

“It comes down to the players – not the coaching staff or the fans.

“It comes down to guys making tackles on the pitch, looking after the ball and all of the simple stuff which left us at different times.”

He added “I know we can do it. I have got no qualms over the quality of the squad.

"But there are times when we switch off and make errors and Gloucester capitalised on them.

“This a league in which you are going to get punished heavily if you are a couple of per cent off in different areas and we got punished.”