Dickens: Foden’s getting back to his best

Saints coach Alan Dickens believes Ben Foden is getting back to his best after watching the England star turn in an impressive performance against Gloucester.

Foden was at the heart of a number of good moves for Northampton, who clinched a 26-7 LV= Cup victory at Franklin’s Gardens on Saturday.

The full-back had been released by England ahead of the game, with a view to getting more minutes under his belt before the Six Nations opener against Scotland on February 2.

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And Dickens felt Foden, who missed 10 successive games earlier in the campaign due to an ankle ligament injury, is starting to find his form again.

“He was impressive and I think he’s getting back to where he wants to be,” said Dickens, who has been tasked with coaching the Saints backs since Paul Grayson’s departure in November.

“He needs to play games and get game time under his belt.”

Saints scored two tries, through Luther Burrell and Alex Waller, against Gloucester to further their ambitions of competing in the LV= Cup semi-finals for the fourth time in five seasons.

And Dickens said there was a ‘really positive’ atmosphere in his side’s changing room after the comprehensive success.

“We’re very happy,” he said. “We talked a couple of weeks ago about winning here against Castres and we did that again today.

“We’re really positive about the guys’ performance and the win.”