BATTERED Warriors face Vikings raid Battered and bruised, the Warriors return to their Saintbridge home looking to pick up their season against the Somerset Vikings this Saturday (2.30pm).

Now two points off the pace following their defeat at Everest Road, last weekend, the Warriors will be without Tom Askew (concussion) and Ben Brinkworth (knee) who both suffered injuries. Nico Tarantino should be fit after he went off with a cut eye and Kieran Cox may feature after a knee injury.

Coach Ben Whincup is optimistic despite the high injury toll.

"It gives others a chance,” he said. “We were missing a few guys last week and we’ll be missing a few this time out.

“I thought the lads who turned out did well despite the result. But we need to get back into the winning circle this week”.

They face a Vikings side they beat 48-14 in Bridgwater on the first weekend of the season in a performance that was particularly impressive. They have not quite risen to those heights since but the wins have kept coming until Old Pats got in the way last weekend.

The Warriors have a good record against the Vikings over the years. The sides first met in 2003 and soon developed a healthy rivalry, sharing division titles between then and 2006. Since the Vikings returned to the West of England division in 2012, the Warriors have won three of the six encounters.

The corresponding fixture last season saw the Warriors win earn a comfortable 48-4 win and more of the same would do Whicup nicely.

“We have to get back to our structure and make sure we start well,” he said. “At any level you can’t just give sides the initiative from the start like we did last week, because it makes things hard for you from then on.

“There were lessons for the whole club last week and we need to take them on board to get better and better, starting this weekend.”