Irish were taken over by a consortium led by businessman Mick Crossan last month and Smith sees parallels between his club’s situation and that of London Wasps, whose financial problems were solved by the arrival of Derek Richardson as owner last April.
Wasps, who face Exeter at home on Sunday, are now in a more stable position and competing for the signatures of Wales internationals Rhys Priestland and Bradley Davies.
“We are following in the footsteps of Wasps because we are having a transition-type season with lots of injuries which is what they faced last season,” added Smith. “They are 12-18 months ahead of us following the new investment.”
For Smith and his players, the most pressing problem is defeating Worcester and putting themselves further away from the threat of relegation.
“We’ve got to stand up because we shouldn’t be losing tight home games — we need to be winning them. We have got to firmly set our sights on Worcester. They are not to be underestimated. We are fighting a wounded animal.”
Worcester director of rugby Dean Ryan is trying to convince the doubters that despite a dreadful record in the Premiership, his side are getting better every match. Ryan said: “It is about operating under pressure. We’ve been dealing with it all season but if we can pick up a win then suddenly the pressure shifts to teams around us.
“Hopefully, we can get the outcome we all desire and then other teams will have to learn how to cope under pressure. I’m very confident that we’re in the best place we could be and we just have to face the challenge.
“For a side who haven’t got a win on the board, we couldn’t be in better shape or spirits. We’ve learned how to deal with things instead of thinking it’s the end of the world. We are in a fight until the end of the season and we’re all focused on doing our jobs.”
