MAX Stelling will lead Worcester Warriors in the new-look Singha Premiership Sevens at Northampton Saints’ Franklin’s Gardens.

Stelling, who represented England in last year’s HSBC Sevens World Series, is joined by three other senior Warriors players in the 12-man squad for the two-day tournament.

Matt Cox, another former England sevens international, Ben Howard and Huw Taylor are all set to feature as Warriors take on Bath and Sale Sharks on Friday evening to learn their fate ahead of Saturday’s Plate, Bowl and Cup fixtures.

Academy backs Will Butler, Afeafe Haisila Lokotui, Alex Hearle and Nick David are included while forward Tom Dodd is also in the squad.

Ex-Warriors under 18s players George Wootten and Alex Forrester are also heading to Northampton along with Birmingham Moseley forward Buster Lawrence.

Worcester sevens head coach Gordon Ross said: “We’ve got a nice blend of youth and experience and we’re looking forward to expressing ourselves on the field.

“It’s a great opportunity for some of our younger guys to impress on the big stage too.”

Warriors tackle Sale Sharks at 6.44pm in their first game before battling Bath at 9.40pm.

Their results on Friday will determine which competition they take part in on Saturday.

Academy backs coach Ross, the former Scotland international who has been with Warriors since April 2015, has coached at the tournament before but is taking the reins for the first time.

He continued: “I think some of our guys will stand out. The guys who’ve played sevens before will really guide us through the competition.

“We seem to come up against Sale in every competition and you know what you’re going to get from them. They’re always going be really competitive.

“You’ll know you’ve been in a game against Sale and Bath have got a lot of really talented youngsters so it’ll be a really tough, competitive group.”

The competition has been structured differently this year and Ross believes the changes will be for the better.

“I’ve been involved in coaching at the tournament before but I’ve not taken charge for it. We’ve been up to Newcastle for the last couple of years and both times we’ve done well in the first game but then struggled in the second,” he added.

“We’ve not been able to back up the first win. We’ve come up a bit short so hopefully we’ll learn our lesson and there’s a bit more space between the games this year which will help our preparation.

“We’ll fit in a specific training session tomorrow. The guys have worked their backsides off for the last four weeks so their time to do sevens has been limited.

“We’ll get time then to do some organisation and hopefully that’ll put us in good stead.”