CHRIS Pennell is longing for “a perfect day” at Sixways as he aims to mark his testimonial game with a memorable win over leaders Exeter Chiefs today (3pm).

The former England international is celebrating his 12th season as a professional and will make Worcester Warriors history when he runs out this afternoon.

Worcester-born Pennell, 31, will become the first Warriors player to make 150 Premiership appearances, surpassing Craig Gillies’ record.

“I am thrilled to be taking it off someone who I looked up to as a youngster and still hold a huge amount of respect for," Pennell said.

“It will be a great occasion but the most important thing is that we play well.

“It will be a nice thing to look back on once all is said and done but my biggest wish is that we prove to ourselves that we should be confident in our own ability.”

It is set to be a huge challenge for Pennell and his team-mates as Exeter have won 12 of their 15 league games this term including a 28-11 triumph over Warriors at Sandy Park in September.

But Worcester pulled off a shock win at Exeter 13 months ago and Pennell says his side, who are one place and five points above the drop zone, will look to draw on that experience.

“We have got a lot of guys who played in that game,” Pennell said.

“We have got to take confidence from that and realise that we are good enough to compete with this team.

“We are on our home patch so we need to expect to win here regardless of who turns up.”

Pennell said “honest conversations” were held in a “pretty brutal” first day back following their 17-6 defeat at bottom club Newcastle Falcons last Sunday.

“It is professional sport so you have got to take it on the chin, learn your lessons and move on as quickly as possible,” Pennell said.

“We will forever be judged on our last game. People’s impression of us won’t be particularly positive so we need to go out there, set the record straight and show what we are about.”

Since his testimonial was launched last summer Pennell and his committee have been busy generating money for Diabetes UK, Acorn’s Children’s Hospice and Grace Kelly Ladybird Trust by holding a series of events.

“The testimonial committee has put in a lot of work and I am thrilled to be raising funds for our three chosen charities,” Pennell added.

“It could be a perfect day so we will hopefully take care of things on the pitch and everything else will fall into place.”