DIRECTOR of rugby Alan Solomons is confident his Worcester Warriors players can handle the pressure of the Aviva Premiership’s relegation battle.

Warriors go into the final three games of the season, starting with today’s trip to Wasps (3pm), with a nine-point gap between themselves and basement side London Irish.

But the Exiles, who host leaders Exeter Chiefs tomorrow (3pm), have shown no signs of giving up as they claimed a 35-5 victory at Harlequins last weekend.

With Irish putting Quins to the sword at The Stoop, Warriors were under the cosh as they trailed Newcastle Falcons 13-6 at half-time.

But the Sixways side responded with three converted tries in a 13-minute spell to secure a valuable 27-13 victory.

With the bottom two sides winning, 10th-placed Northampton Saints have been sucked into the scrap for survival as they sit 10 points clear of the drop zone and only one point above Worcester.

Solomons was delighted to see his team step up to the plate in the second half at Sixways but insisted they would need to raise their game against Wasps.

“We handled quite a lot of pressure against Newcastle, there is no question about that,” Solomons said.

“The boys dealt with that admirably and that’s part of professional sport.

“We have got to take it a game at a time and lift the level of our performance every time we play.”

While Warriors are battling to secure their top-flight status, Wasps are determined to cement their place in the top four.

Last season’s Premiership finalists have slipped to fourth after narrow defeats to Leicester Tigers and Sale Sharks.

Warriors lost 24-10 in their last meeting with Wasps at Sixways in September and Solomons is expecting Dai Young’s side to bring an expansive, high-tempo game.

“There are no easy games in this competition and Wasps are a quality, top-four team,” Solomons said.

“We have got to almost be at our best against them. We had a good performance last week but have got to look to build on that.

“Wasps are a side that play with pace and put width on the game.

“They have got some X-factor players and some other really good players across the park so they will certainly be looking to inject tempo into the game.”