WORCESTER Warriors are set to make a late call on Jono Lance ahead of Saturday’s European Challenge Cup quarter-final against Harlequins at Sixways (8.15pm).

The fly-half was forced off just three minutes into Warriors’ clash at Bristol Bears last Saturday following a blow to his head.

Head coach Rory Duncan said the Australian who has recently overcome a back problem was “doing alright” but was still “in the hands of the medical staff”.

“There is a protocol that we have got to follow so we will make a call on him later on in the week,” Duncan said.

“Reports have gone relatively well so he has got through the first stages.

“But it is in the hands of the medical staff and it obviously depends on how confident he feels going into the game.”

After four months on the sidelines Lance returned to action in Warriors’ 17-6 defeat at Newcastle Falcons earlier this month.

The 28-year-old then impressed off the bench in the 33-30 loss to Exeter Chiefs before being picked ahead of Duncan Weir for the trip to Bristol.

“We had the conversation around Duncan and Jono when we had the selection meeting,” Duncan said.

“Both of them are extremely experienced players. Duncan has got a boot that proved pretty valuable to us.

“Duncan was under consideration but we decided to start with Jono.

“He came on and had a good run at it against Exeter and we wanted to give him more game-time so we put Duncan on the bench.

“Unfortunately Jono got injured during the game, but Duncan jumped in and had an extremely good performance for us.”

Weir converted all three tries in the first half as well as landing two penalties either side of the interval as Warriors beat Bristol 27-25.

“I must be honest I was pretty chuffed when Duncan walked up and grabbed the tee after getting that long-range kick,” Duncan said.

“What a kick that was and it just showed the value of Duncan as a player.

“He has done it on a number of times for us this season so for him to step up in a big game like that was great. We are very happy with him.”