WORCESTER Warriors will make a call tomorrow on whether scrum-half Francois Hougaard will be fit enough to face Newcastle Falcons in the Aviva Premiership on Saturday (3pm).

The talismanic number nine has not featured for Warriors since limping off with an ankle issue in the loss at London Irish in late February.

Full-back Chris Pennell and flanker Sam Lewis have returned to training and are expected to start against fourth-placed Falcons at Sixways.

But director of rugby Alan Solomons was not willing to make a judgement on Hougaard as Warriors continue their preparations.

“We will wait and see,” Solomons said.

“We will make a final decision tomorrow.

“It is difficult to say at this point, but clearly it (his ankle) has got to be right to play. He has got to feel right and comfortable to play.”

If Hougaard fails to recover in time, Solomons will have a choice between Jonny Arr, Michael Dowsett and recent recruit Grayson Hart to tackle Newcastle.

Hart, who has joined Warriors from Ealing Trailfinders until the end of the season played the first half of Worcester Cavaliers' 52-21 win over Sale Jets on Monday night.

“Francois is a terrific player but I think we have got really good scrum-halves,” Solomons said.

Both Grayson and Mikey played very well on Monday night.

"We have got experienced nines as Jonny has had 200 games for Worcester.

"Mikey has played a lot of Super Rugby and Grayson has had a couple of tests (for Scotland).

"He has played New Zealand under 20s and a lot of games at Pro14 and Super Rugby level so we are fortunate that we in a position where we have got reasonable depth there."