Dingwall feels mentally refreshed as Saints return to Premiership pressure cooker

That is because rather than first looking at the outcome, they want to put the building blocks in place to achieve it, realising that if they get their game right, any team will find it tough to stop them.

And that has especially been the case during the recent Premiership Rugby Cup weeks, when development and game time has taken priority over picking up wins.

However, Saints did manage to secure three victories from as many matches in the cup competition, beating Leicester Tigers, Nottingham and Coventry this month.

And that has meant the mood in camp is high as the pressure piles back on with a crucial home Gallagher Premiership game against Gloucester lying in wait on Saturday (kick-off 3pm).

"It (the past month) has been interesting," said Saints centre Fraser Dingwall.

"For me personally, it's been the first time in a while I've been around the club when the Prem Cup has been going on because normally I've been in and around (England) camp.

"It's been nice to be at the club when there hasn't been as much pressure on the results side - it's been more about different boys getting opportunity and trying to develop as a playing squad.

"It's been quite refreshing rather than it be the whole week-to-week season of the Prem where you've got to win this game and then you're into Europe and you've got to win that.

"It's been quite mentally refreshing for me.

"It's nice getting everyone back in and refreshing the focus back into the Prem.

"Don't get me wrong, it's not so much that we've not been wanting outcomes in the cup, it's more that what we've wanted is people developing and getting that exposure.

"With that development tends to come good performances and then the outcomes.

"It's all flowed through quite nicely.

"We came away with a gritty win against Cov last weekend and it's fuelling the confidence in the squad that we can win grittier games and we're finding different ways to win.

"Everything's tracking in a really good direction and the mood in camp is really good."

Dingwall has returned from concussion this week, having sustained a head knock while skippering England A to victory against Australia A at the Twickenham Stoop a couple of weeks ago.

"I really enjoyed the experience - it was cool," he said.

"It was a week with people you've played against and trained a bit with, and it was really enjoyable.

"We kept it quite simple, went and had a really good go at it and it was a really good experience.

"A few lads performed really well, did themselves a lot of favours and ultimately it was just nice for boys to represent England."

Now though, the full focus of all of the club's international players is on Saints matters with a huge block of games ahead.

"As soon as the Prem is back, every team beats anyone on their day so you can't afford to have an off week," Dingwall said.

"We're fortunate that we've got boys coming back from international duty who have got mixed feelings about their own involvement so that fuels their hunger and excitement to get back into this stuff.

"You've got lads like Colesy (Alex Coles) and Trev (Davison) who didn't manage to get a game for England so they come back with really good energy and champing to get at it again.

"We've got those four backs (Fin Smith, Ollie Sleightholme, Tommy Freeman and George Furbank) coming in who played really well and we're in a really good spot."

This weekend, Saints will take on a reinvigorated Gloucester side who currently sit sixth in the Premiership standings.

The Cherry and Whites have been scoring tries for fun and have already banked eight bonus points so far this season.

"First of all, I think it's really good that they're doing it and it's a great action for rugby itself, to be rolling the dice and be playing more, build more phases and play a more attacking style of rugby," Dingwall said. "It's brilliant.

"It means they are more of a threat and something different to deal with.

"We're fortunate in the sense that we played Bristol who are very attack-minded, Nottingham in the cup, who were doing the same sort of thing, so it's all flowed quite nicely to get to this point.

"They've got a lot of threats and we're aware that they're going to play a lot more compared to last year so it's how we negate that and then how we can put our attacking stuff on the pitch as well."

Saints have been heading towards another cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens sell-out again this week.

And Dingwall said: "It's unbelievable, every week it's selling out.

"The only tough thing now is that we're all struggling to get tickets for all our family and friends!

"It's just so good to see and I feel like the club is in a really good spot around squad and fan connection.

"There's a really good feeling where everyone has bought in around what we're trying to do, including the fans.

"We've got really good support behind us every time we're here and there's a really good attachment."