Worcester flanker Matt Kvesic has responded to Saturday’s dismal defeat at Exeter – and Warriors’ most flaccid performance of the season, by claiming the Sixways outfit can still achieve their goal of a top-half finish.

Worcester missed out on a prime opportunity to propel themselves into the Heineken Cup mix last Saturday when they slipped to a 33-9 hammering without ever looking like they would leave Sandy Park with even a single point.

That was a huge disappointment to Kvesic and his team-mates, who now sit ninth in the league and just five points clear of second bottom after a weekend in which both Sale and London Welsh picked up important wins.

But the 20-year-old is still upbeat about the remaining games and insists that there are many cause for optimism after more than a third of the Premiership campaign: “There have been a lot of positives,” Kvesic said.

“Generally people tend to remember the negatives like those two bad decisions against Gloucester and Bath and that Saints game wasn’t great. People tend to remember those and forget the games we have played well in.

“But we have had some good wins this year and we have played a lot of good rugby. What’s key for us is to keep building and – to be honest, not worry too much about where we are in the table.

“I know as a club we are ambitious and we are aiming up the table, that’s the key. If we can just focus on how we are going, our performance and keep developing as a team then hopefully top six isn’t unrealistic, if we can get our act together.”

Worcester didn’t come close to doing that against the Chiefs. They were 19-0 down inside in a quarter and even though they managed to claw back three Andy Goode penalties, in truth they never wrestled back the momentum.

Indeed Kvesic admits the forwards were beaten all over the park, in the loose and the set-piece, on what turned out to be a very bad day at a rather raucous office.

“If the supporters were feeling a bit sorry for themselves after Saturday then rightly so, so were we to be honest, we were down and knew we could have done a lot better. It’s one game. It’s disappointing and we have taken a little backward step but it’s not the end of the world and hopefully we can kick on in the next few games.”

The most pressing of which is at home to Scarlets this weekend as Worcester open their LV= Cup campaign at home before travelling to Wasps next weekend. For Kvesic those fixtures are now infused with even more significance.

“The LV match this weekend becomes quite an important game now. You can get some momentum from these games similar to how we did in the Amlin. I know they weren’t the best quality games but if you string some performances together it gives you some momentum going into that Saracens game.

*The LV=Cup kicks off on Friday, 9 November. Watch the next generation break through. For tickets and info, visit www.LV.com/rugby