WORCESTER Warriors showed “fight” and “courage” to pick up a precious point from their 48-32 defeat against Exeter Chiefs, according to director of rugby Gary Gold.

And the former Bath, London Irish and Newcastle Falcons chief has vowed to “back” the group of players who fought hard against third-placed Chiefs at Sixways.

Gold insists there is “nothing that can’t be fixed” as Warriors now prepare for their trip to Northampton Saints.

Warriors remain second-from-bottom in the Aviva Premiership but Jackson Willison’s last-gasp touchdown against the Chiefs was their fourth of the match to earn a bonus point.

Warriors have opened up a six-point cushion over relegation rivals Bristol, who were thumped 50-17 at Leicester Tigers.

“I was really happy with the fight the guys carried on showing because Exeter are really good with ball in hand and we knew they could open us up on a fast surface,” said Gold.

“There’s nothing that can’t be fixed.

“If we didn’t have a fight and the courage to stay in it and go for the full 80 minutes and score four tries that would be a much bigger concern because that’s something which is a lot more difficult to fix.

“I am going to continue to back this group of players because I think they are a great bunch of guys and you could see it matters to stay in the Premiership and being able to take on top teams.”

Warriors went toe-to-toe with last season’s Premiership finalists and led 18-17 until Alafoti Fa’osiliva was dispatched to the sin-bin for a needless shoulder charge early in the second half.

Exeter then turned the contest on its head, racking up three tries and 19 points in a devastating spell which underlined their outstanding attacking qualities.

Wing James Short finished with a hat-trick for the Devon club, who had thumped Warriors 57-22 at Sandy Park in November.

As well as conceding seven tries, Warriors will be disappointed Ryan missed two penalties which could have put pressure on Exeter before they took a firm grip on the match.

“It’s the way it’s going to be,” said Gold.

“It’s difficult when you are playing against the best kicker in the Premiership in Gareth Steenson and you need to kick your goals.

“Who knows what would have happened had the lead been extended?

“There’s nothing you can really do about that.

“I thought it was the right to go for poles when we did and it would have given the guys a lot of confidence had we been able to kick those goals.”

Warriors replaced influential scrum-half Francois Hougaard and fly-half Mills with 14 minutes remaining and the hosts trailing 43-25.

“Francois had taken a knock so we had confidence on the bench and were thinking of giving Luke Baldwin a go,” explained Gold.

“But it probably made sense to protect Francois and Ryan because, with respect, I think the game had already been lost.

“I was really happy that the guys came off the bench and carried on the way they did to get us a fourth try.”

Warriors have failed to pick up a league point on their travels this term and Gold accepts it “doesn’t get any easier” with a trip to Franklin’s Gardens to face Northampton on Saturday (3pm).

“It doesn’t get any easier in the Premiership, especially away from home,” said Gold.

“Our big challenge is to right what we got wrong (against Exeter) and understand we can go away from home, put in a decent performance and put ourselves in a position to be able to win games.”