WORCESTER Warriors have been languishing in the bottom two since the opening day of the Aviva Premiership season.

But Worcester will arrive at Northampton Saints today (4pm) with a chance of nailing down their highest position in the top-flight in more than a decade.

Going into the final round of fixtures Warriors are level on points with out-of-form Harlequins who take on table-toppers Exeter Chiefs at The Stoop this afternoon.

They are also only two points behind Saints with the same win-loss record, meaning a victory for Worcester at Franklin’s Gardens could see them finish as high as ninth.

If the Sixways side were able to achieve this feat it would be the best position they have ended a Premiership season in since 2005-06 when they came eighth under the late John Brain.

Tighthead prop Nick Schonert said: “It is always good to win but it would be great to finish ninth.

“The biggest thing for us now is consistency so if we can have a couple of wins on the bounce it can put us in great stead for next year.”

Schonert admitted Sixways had felt like a “different place” this week after Warriors retained their Premiership status last Saturday.

Worcester needed a point against Harlequins to beat the drop and thanks to four tries in the first 33 minutes they settled the relegation battle by half-time.

Schonert said his team-mates then had “fun” in the second period as the buoyant hosts ran in three further scores to clinch a 44-13 triumph.

“After we scored the fourth try on the weekend I think most teams would have taken their foot off,” said the 26-year-old.

“But for the first time that was the moment when we started looking up and the boys were having fun on the field. It was just awesome to be around.

“Guys like Darren Barry were putting in great shifts and the other boys were putting their hand up too because they were looking up rather than down which is really contagious.

“I saw guys smiling, laughing and joking around.

“They were still serious in doing their job on the pitch but there was such a buzz and so much confidence.

“It is a different place to be at the moment.

“We had a bit of a slow start to the season but we fixed that and I feel we are at that point now where we are about to crack on.”

Warriors will also have the opportunity to complete the double over Saints having won 30-15 at Sixways in November.

But Northampton’s form has improved in recent weeks as they beat Leicester Tigers 27-21 at Welford Road before claiming two points from a 36-29 defeat at Wasps last weekend.

“Every week is a big week in the Premiership so we don’t want to look at where we could finish. We just want to focus on the same processes we went through in the Quins game,” Schonert added.

“We put a lot of emphasis on what we could bring and that’s what we want to do against Saints.

“They are a good outfit as they showed last week so we need to make sure we are squeaky clean.”