THE quality of players at Worcester Warriors “are far better” than last season, insists fit-again flanker Marco Mama.

But the former Bristol back row admits that “for whatever reason” Warriors “are not gelling”.

Mama will be keen to impress for Warriors at French outfit Brive on Saturday in the European Challenge Cup (8pm GMT).

Worcester are not yet out of contention for a place in the competition’s last eight — they are on seven points, two behind Newport Gwent Dragons and Enisei-STM who meet at Rodney Parade.

But a win at the Stade Amedee-Domenech will be a tough challenge for Carl Hogg’s side as Pool Three leaders Brive boast an impressive home record.

“If you look at where we were last season and the players we’ve got in at the moment they are far better players,” said Mama.

“For whatever reason, we are not gelling at the moment — and there’s no avoiding that.

“It’s not quite clicking but we are not just sitting and saying, ‘Let’s keep doing the same old thing,’ because that would make no sense.

“The plan is in place and we are going to push our game in slightly different directions and be more clear about what we are doing and hopefully these sorts of changes are going to bode well when we get out on the pitch.

“We are going to tinker with a couple of things in our game which we think will make a difference but we are not going to lose sight of playing to our strengths.”

Mama, 25, came on as a replacement for the final 20 minutes of Warriors’ 55-19 Premiership battering at Gloucester last Saturday.

And the Nigerian-born player is keen to press his claims after recovering from a torn hamstring which kept him out of action for almost three months.

He started the Premiership campaign in superb form, standing out in Warriors’ opening-day 35-3 defeat to Saracens at Twickenham.

Mama also carried strongly in Warriors’ 23-23 home draw against Gloucester before tearing his hamstring in the first half of their loss at Bath.

He was given his comeback opportunity at Dragons last month after Carl Kirwan dislocated his shoulder.

“I was very frustrated (at Gloucester),” he said. “It’s tough to come on in a game like that when you are chasing something.

“We got relatively close to a bonus point but it doesn’t take away from the fact that when I was on the field we conceded three poor tries. It’s not the situation we want to be in.

“It’s tough to take those losses and I know if I was a supporter of Warriors I would be in the same situation. It’s not an easy thing to take.”

Mama believes the break from Premiership action has come at a good time for Warriors.

“It’s time to consolidate and have a look at what we’ve been doing and make a couple of changes where needed,” he said.

“I think we have got to try to use Europe as an opportunity to gain some momentum and get some wins under our belt.

“It’s not going to be a case of resting up the starters and let the squad players have a go. We have to go out there to get some wins and there is no better time to do it than now.”