WING Dean Hammond is confident big-match player Ben Te’o will rise to the occasion when Worcester Warriors meet in-form Newcastle Falcons at Sixways tomorrow (3pm).

Te’o made his first outing for Warriors in more than five months when they tackled Sale Sharks at the AJ Bell Stadium.

But the England centre’s long-awaited return to the team ended in disappointment as Worcester crashed to a 58-25 defeat.

The 31-year-old is now set to go up against a Falcons side who have won four of their past five games in the Aviva Premiership.

And Hammond believes his teammate will step up to the plate as Warriors bid to down their fourth-placed opponents.

“Ben is a quality player and is always going to make a difference,” Hammond said.

“We certainly know what he is capable of and I am sure he will step up to the occasion against Newcastle because it is a fairly big game.”

Hammond reckons Te’o will also be keen to help Worcester banish the memory of their opening-day 35-8 loss at Newcastle in September.

The British and Irish Lions ace lasted just 27 minutes before being forced off with an arm injury.

“As a professional you will always be up for massive games like this,” Hammond continued.

“And we realise the size of this match. It is significant and we have got to put in a big performance.

“Ben will definitely want to rectify that (showing at Newcastle).”

Te’o recovered from an ankle injury to play in all five games of England’s Six Nations campaign before arriving back at Sixways.

“Ben has been putting in time with the guys in training and has slotted in seamlessly,” Hammond said.

“He played quite a few games for us last year and a bit at the beginning of this season.

“He has been away for quite a bit of time but a guy of that quality can certainly slot into a team quite easily.”

Inside centre Ryan Mills is due to see a specialist this week to find out the extent of the damage sustained to his ankle.

But boss Alan Solomons does not expect the 25-year-old to play again this term, meaning Te’o and Jackson Willison are likely to be Worcester’s first-choice midfield pairing.

“They are two quality players,” Hammond said.

“Jackson makes great decisions so it is certainly easy to play inside a guy like that.”

After the Sale defeat, Warriors had a week off from Premiership action and Hammond said his team were “fully energised” ahead of their battle with Newcastle.

“It has given us a bit more time to iron out a few things that we didn’t get right (at Sale),” Hammond added.

“Newcastle are a good team but we certainly back ourselves to perform.”