HEAD coach Carl Hogg says he is likely to field a largely unchanged side to take on Connacht as he looks for a reaction from his Worcester Warriors players on Saturday (3pm).

Hogg admitted his men “let themselves down” in their sorry 41-25 home defeat to Bath in the Aviva Premiership last Friday and were “desperate” to make amends.

After three tough league games, director of rugby Alan Solomons said he would “carefully” consider whether or not to rest key players.

But Hogg has challenged them to bottle up the frustration of the league thrashing and come back fighting against Connacht in the European Challenge Cup at Sixways.

Warriors are also aiming to progress to the knock-out stages of the competition for the first time since 2009 as they sit in second position with two games left.

“We will pretty much go with the side that played last Friday night,” Hogg said.

“There are one or two players with injuries that we need to manage but it is very much about giving guys the opportunity to react off the back of Friday’s disappointment.

“Players know when they have let themselves down and we didn’t perform at the level which we have been capable of and have produced, especially over the last couple of months.

“We have had some very good performances, but I thought we were flat against Sale and Bath.

“We have got to look at the underlying reasons why that was, but ultimately it has gone now and we have got to move forward as we go into a competition on the weekend that we can progress in.”

Second row Will Spencer picked up a hip injury while scrum-half Francois Hougaard is also understood to be carrying a knock following Worcester’s battle with Bath.

But Hogg felt his side had enough time to recover in preparation for Connacht who are seven points clear at the top of Pool Five.

“We will look to manage Will’s schedule,” said Hogg, whose side travel to third-placed Brive the following Saturday.

“You can see by the level of attrition that he plays the game and the intensity of the collision which he creates you are going to have some fall-out.

“So it is about managing individuals whether that’s a Francois, Will or others within the squad.

“There is an opportunity to look at who starts and who comes off the bench but the key for us on Saturday is that it is a chance to progress.”

Warriors are currently one of the three best-placed runners-up which would be enough to see them reach the last eight after picking up 12 points from their first four games.

“We are fortunate that our last game was on Friday night and it’s an eight-day turnaround so it gives players a little bit of a rest,” Hogg added.

“As a player you want to get back out there after a defeat and rectify it, especially the manner of the loss against Bath.

“If you asked every player who played on Friday night they would be desperate to play this weekend.

“Clearly it was a disappointing result. But win, lose or draw you have got to dust yourself down and get ready to go again.

“With back-to-back fixtures coming up you can’t rest on sentiment, you have got to get on with the next challenge.”