Boss Lam believes Bristol Bears have a plan that can help them deal with Saints

The Bears started the new Gallagher Premiership season in impressive fashion last Friday night as they secured a 25-14 win against Leicester Tigers at Ashton Gate.

It kicked off a weekend of league action during which every home team secured victory.

Saints came agonisingly close to winning away but they eventually fell just short as they suffered a 20-15 defeat at Sale Sharks.

And Lam is now hopeful his team can prevail on the road this weekend.

"The thing I was most pleased about in the Leicester game was that everyone was disciplined enough to do their job and execute our plan that we had," Lam said.

"We have a plan for Northampton and we're going to need the same. The emotional investment to be prepared, ready to go and channel all the excitement to put our best into our jobs - that's what we need.

"They (Saints) pose different threats to Leicester and we believe we have a plan to deal with that and we have a system to deal with that, but we've got to get it right mentally."

Saints and Bristol often play out high-scoring matches, with both sides relishing the attacking side of the game.

The Bears scored from the final play to snatch a 39-38 Premiership Rugby Cup win against Saints at Ashton Gate last month.

And when asked why clashes between the teams are often so entertaining, Lam said: "It's the attitude.

"We are slightly different in the sense that there's a Bears way and a Saints way, but the mindset is the same.

"We both want to play exciting rugby and that's why there's always big scores in these games - they're entertaining.

"We look forward to this one as well.

"It's going to be even more difficult because we’re playing away, and if you look at the first round of the Premiership all the home teams won, and all the home teams this week are coming off a loss.

"It just shows you how hard it is to win away, but that's the challenge we're looking forward to.”