Worcester have been a topflight side for just over 12 months and in that time they have bloodied the nose of every opponent they have faced - except one.

The claws, bite and growl belonging to those big cats from Leicester have so far rendered said organ unreachable and the two league games between the sides have resulted in some heavy scaring and a pair of heavy defeats for the men from Sixways. Very heavy.

Warriors face their nemesis once more tomorrow night and will be more than anxious to avoid the 38-11 embarrassment inflicted on them this time last year.

They will be even keener to ensure there is no repeat of the 50-7 drubbing meted out at Welford Road two months later. An aggregate of 88-18 and a try count of 13-2 against will do wonders to concentrate the mind.

For, by the admission of their own line- out machine Craig Gillies, it is between the ears where Worcester have struggled to match up to the biggest name in English club rugby.

The giant second-row played in both matches last year and accepts that his team was part of the way to being beaten before they set foot on the pitch.

"They gave us a couple of lessons, each time we played them we were pretty soundly beaten," he said.

"But we have got to a stage where we should not be as intimidated as we were in our first season.

"Leicester are a side that probably most teams in the league give a bit too much respect to. They are a good side but I don't see any reason why if we front up on the night we cannot give them a good run for their money."

It's something they failed to do in the corresponding fixture in 2004 when novice wing Tom Varndell scored a hattrick of tries in only his second league game for the club.

"It was very disappointing for us," Gillies said. "We went into that game believing that they were weakened by international call-ups and that we stood a good chance. Instead we were taught a lesson.

"Looking back it was a missed opportunity but we learned that any time you take the field against a Leicester Tigers side we have to be on top of our game and 100 per cent prepared." After that result Worcester won six of their next eight league games and preserved their top-flight status. Gillies can find a silver lining to what at the time appeared the blackest of clouds.

He said: "It gave us a reminder that we had to really focus on every performance and that we had to perform to the best of our ability to trouble sides. Losing so heavily reminded us what we had to do and focused us for the rest of the season."

Varndell was the star of that match and has continued his development into this campaign to the point that he is top of the try-scoring charts.

He will play again tomorrow in a Leicester side ravaged by international call-ups but for once Worcester have their own disruptions with Chris Horsman and Pat Sanderson away with Wales and England respectively.

Some think Gillies should be on Red Rose duty, too. Since returning to the Premiership the 29-year-old former Richmond and Bath man has, statistically, been the top line-out exponent in the country.

All he'll say is: "I would like to play for England, representing their country is pretty much what every player wants to do."

Even that is suffixed with: "I don't want to come across as arrogant or blowing my own trumpet," and the suggestion that his success is down to his team-mates.

"If I am the one that ends up with the numbers it's because other guys are putting me up there or getting me to where I need to be."

They'll need to do that with metronomic accuracy tomorrow if Worcester, in fifth place, are to register their first success against the Tigers, who are second.

Both teams have won three of their five matches this season though Leicester are unbeaten having drawn their other two. With such unfamiliar line-ups the formbook is difficult to decipher but Worcester may not be able to rely on their habit of winning without playing well.

"In terms of performances we are a little way off where we want to be," Gillies said. "The phrase that's been used a few times is that we have won ugly and that's fair.

"We have won a couple of games in which the performance itself has not been that pretty to look at and, as a pack, we are not quite where we were at the end of last season. We need to get back to that type of form and then push it on."

If they can do that the only blood the Tigers will smell will be their own.