Hudson: Falcons skipper

Alan Tait's side, the pre-season favourites to be relegated from the top flight, have won just one of their seven league fixtures to date and trail the Warriors, the side immediately above them in the table, by five points.

Defeat on home turf on Friday night could leave the Falcons up to 10 points adrift in the sole relegation place, but the hosts have enjoyed a better run of form in recent weeks, winning three of their last five games in all competitions.

And with chairman Semore Kurdi lowering adult ticket prices to just £10 in an effort to get the fans through the turnstiles, second-row Hudson wants the visiting Warriors to be greeted by a hostile atmosphere.

He told the club website: "The board have done a tremendous job in making tickets available to everyone at an affordable price. We now need as many fans to come through the turnstiles as possible and really get behind this group of players.

"With the present economic climate it is a good move by the club and enables fans to purchase tickets at a cheaper price."

Hudson himself is returning to the fray after a four-week suspension and his availability is a major boost for Tait.

And the former London Irish man cannot wait to be back in the thick of the action

"I am really excited about getting back out there," said Hudson.

"It has certainly been a long four weeks for me and it has been very frustrating to have to watch the boys from the sideline especially when I've been really fit and well."

Hudson's return is one of five changes made by coach Tait. Greg Goosen replaces Jeremy Manning at full-back with Alex Tait on the wing and Jordi Pasqualin at scrum-half. Richard Mayhew comes into the pack.

Worcester can count themselves unfortunate not to be higher up the standings. But they have paid the price for an inability to close out close games, letting opportunities to pick up victories slip away in two of their last three home league fixtures against Harlequins and Wasps.

And Hill, who hands starts to fly-half Joe Carlisle and Tonga hooker Aleki Lutui while lock Craig Gillies makes his 250th appearance, knows that is a trend that has to change if they are to avoid a "scary" end to the season.

"Our players were bitterly disappointed by the defeat to Wasps and I expect a reaction. There is no doubt it is a big game and we have got to come out on top," he told the Worcester website.

"We hadn't intended to be where we are in the league. We are disappointed and we are capable of being higher than this.

"Games are settled on small margins and we could be seventh but we are 11th. At seventh you are relaxing and playing with confidence and enjoying yourself. When you are 11th it can be scary.

"We know we can play better. We know we are improving in defence, improving in all aspects of our game. We have just got to keep working at it."