I’ve been pretty average, says Saints scrum-half Fotuali’i

But the Samoan scrum-half has signalled his intent to step things up in the weeks and months ahead.

Fotuali’i and his fellow attacking players have yet to fire at Franklin’s Gardens this season.

Saints are the lowest scorers in the Aviva Premiership, with just seven tries to their name.

And the former Ospreys man says he has not been good enough since returning from World Cup duty.

“It’s been pretty average,” saif Fotuali’i, when asked about his own form.

“I definitely haven’t fired a shot.

“Technically and tactically I haven’t realy played too well but hopefully I’ll get a few more games over the next few weeks and build a bit of confidence in myself.

“As a team we need to get confidence out of some results.”

So what does Fotuali’i put his below-par performances down to?

“It could be a few things, maybe fatigue,” said the 33-year-old.

“Physically, the body feels fine. Obviously Dicko (Lee Dickson) and I have the rotation, two games on, two games off, so that’s helped in the body.

“But I think I just need a kick up the backside and to switch on and play well.”

Fotuali’i will be hoping to get back to his best in the Boxing Day game at London Irish, who have yet to win an Aviva Premiership game this season.

But will Saints, who are big favourites, be feeling the pressure?

“Not at all.” Fotuali’i said.

“There’s always a pressure of playing, but that’s why you play rugby.

“You hopefully enjoy that kind of pressure and hopefully we can go out there and perform well as a team.

“It just goes back to playing well and making sure we’ve done what we need to do.

“We analyse their threats and weaknesses and then do it correctly out on the training field but, most importantly, turn up on game day and execute those things.

“We need to play rugby in the right areas, score more points than them and hopefully come away with the right result.”