DIRECTOR of rugby Alan Solomons says his Warriors side must “stick to the process” to turn narrow defeats into wins as they prepare for a crunch battle with Northampton Saints tonight (7.45pm).

Worcester return to Sixways for the first time in three weeks following two successive away defeats to Bristol Bears and Leicester Tigers that came after home losses to Bath and Wasps.

Add the Saracens nightmare to that list and Solomons’ men have five Gallagher Premiership defeats on the spin but the South African insists the only way to rectify poor results is by being persistent and sticking to the process.

“We have a process and we must follow that process,” Solomons said.

“Focus on your performance and be persistent. Don’t start looking for a miracle, we’ve been that close.

“The commitment was unbelievable at Bristol, six days later we had Tigers, not easy, and we have a second six-day turnaround now and that does make things difficult.

“It’s about being resilient and about being persistent and we will get over the line.”

In the latest defeat at Leicester last Saturday, Solomons identified the set-piece as playing a large role in determining the final result of 14-8 with injuries heavily affecting the scrum and lineout.

“A big factor was an injury to Graham (Kitchener) at half-time,” he added.

“We lost Anton (Bresler) at half-time but Andrew (Kitchener) came on and did really well but then we lost Graham and at the same time Ted (Hill)’s hip wasn’t in great shape but he had to step in for us at lock.

“If you look at the set-piece in each half, six scrums in the first half, four are rock steady, we turn one over and then we win a penalty on the other.

“In the second, there are five scrums, we are under pressure in that area, lose three penalties in those five and from two of them they kick the penalties that win them the game.”

Despite another tight loss Solomons was keen to point out that last season saw a similar situation in terms of tight games but that they fell on the right side of results compared to this current campaign.

He continued: “I think we had a number of close games last season and we were on the right side of those games and then this season we have fallen on the wrong side.

“Absolutely, we could have won any of these games and could have been higher up. Last season we fell on the right side of the line.

“Last season Leicester was last second, Bath final play, Saracens last second and this season we just have been on the wrong side so you have to keep perspective.

"Those margins are fine and we must just keep at it. It is by being persistent that you’re going to come through and not just throwing your hands in the air. We’re that close.”