Dingwall insists Saints must use Bath defeat to fuel the fire for PREM bid

The black, green and gold saw a big lead slip at The Rec as they went from 35-14 up to 43-41 down.

Bath saw the game out in the final couple of minutes to secure the victory and send them into the Investec Champions Cup semi-finals.

But it won't be the last time the two teams meet this season as they are scheduled to face each other again in a PREM battle at cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens on April 25.

Saints currently sit top of the league standings and are desperate to deliver some silverware this season.

And England centre Dingwall wants to make sure the heartbreaking loss at Bath helps him and his team-mates in the weeks and months ahead.

"It has to, otherwise that game counts for nothing," Dingwall said.

"You have to use that as fuel for the rest of the season and as a massive learning base.

"All these occasions can be so valuable if you pick them and take what you can from them.

"That will just add to the back end of the season because there's still something special to play for and also there's some boys (who are leaving) we're trying to do it for so it's set up to be a nice end to the year."

When asked what was said among the Saints players after the concession of the late Ted Hill try, Dingwall replied: "Just how useful these games can be in a backwards kind of way.

"These experiences where you're in knockout games and you only get one chance at it where it goes really well and then it doesn't necessarily go that well in the end, they become really valuable if you take learnings from them and look to grow from them.

"I cast my mind back a couple of years ago when we lost to Leinster in the semi-final and said we were actually really grateful for that game for the same reasons because that group now has experienced a game that has massive swings of momentum and an experience they can learn from around how to win those occasions."