Gloucester's George Skivington says cancellation of Worcester match will hit financially

Gloucester have only played one match at home in the Premiership so far this season

Gloucester head coach George Skivington said the cancellation of Saturday's Premiership match with Worcester will come at a "very big cost" to the club.

Worcester have been suspended from the league by the Rugby Football Union and placed into administration.

Gloucester will lose about £400,000 as a result of the game not going ahead, PA Media reports.

"There'll be a huge financial loss for the game not going ahead this weekend, which is big," Skivington said.

This is the second time in six months that Gloucester have seen a league fixture with Worcester called off days before it was scheduled.

In March last season the game was cancelled due to injuries and illness within the Warriors squad. The game was not replayed and Gloucester were eventually awarded a 20-0 victory and five points.

"The cost is very big to the club, which is not on the level of what Worcester are going through, but on a personal level for the club these losses are big for us," Skivington said.

"I think we're lucky as a club, we're in as good a position financially as a club as you can be, I'm not saying we're flush but thankfully that's not my domain."

Worcester are not the only Premiership club in financial difficulty, with fellow Midlands side Wasps having also stated their intention to appoint administrators.

"There's concern for people you know within these clubs [Worcester and Wasps] there's some brilliant people at both those clubs. My sympathy goes out to anyone involved in this because it's horrendous," added Skivington.

Gloucester have only played twice so far this season in the Premiership, having had a bye week during round two.

They face Bath away in the Premiership Rugby Cup on Wednesday, with their next league fixture now also against Bath on 8 October.

"It's not ideal. You're planning your season and we've had a funny start with a bye week and four scheduled games in two weeks, so we put a lot of plans in place knowing it was going to be a tricky start for us," said Skivington.

"This is a curveball because it's now another bye week for us. I've had to adjust the training week as of Monday evening."

England winger Jonny May has been drafted into the Premiership Rugby Cup squad in a bid to get him match time, having missed much of last season with a knee injury.

Captain Lewis Ludlow will also make his first start of the season as he returns from injury.

May, 32, has played only once for Gloucester since January having returned for their match with Saracens on the final day of last season.

He was ruled out of the Six Nations and then missed this summer's tour in Australia after contracting Covid-19, despite being called into the squad.