Dowson determined to keep Saints grounded ahead of derby day

The black, green and gold will square up to local rivals Leicester Tigers at cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens on Saturday afternoon.

Saints lost all three meetings against Tigers last season, with the third defeat coming in the Gallagher Premiership play-off semi-final at Mattioli Woods Welford Road.

It means Dowson's side have a score to settle, but the director of rugby knows they can't afford to build the game up to much.

“It's always great to have a derby coming to town," Dowson said.

"I'm sure the supporters will all be bang up for that, just like we will.

"It’s obviously a big week but we’ve got to make sure we don’t get carried away with it.

“We’ve got to make sure we prepare for that side of it but don’t over-egg it too much.

“It was a real big squad effort last week and it will be the same this week too.

"We trained really well throughout, and we’ll go hard again this week.”

Saints got up and running last Saturday as they bagged a bonus-point 38-22 win against London Irish at the Gardens.

It means they have taken six points from a possible 10 at the start of the new Gallagher Premiership season.

“I would have preferred my first win to come (at Sale) on the previous weekend, if I’m being absolutely honest, but I'm delighted with the result on Saturday," Dowson said.

“Elements of the performance weren’t ideal, but I thought we showed a lot of heart, the whole squad came to the party.

“I thought we had trained well in the week, and I thought, at times, we played well.

"There were times when it didn't flow, and I think particularly early in the second half, we didn't necessarily make things stick, we didn’t take our opportunities and maybe tried to overplay a little.

“But when we went back to 15 on 15 and scored quickly, I thought we saw a bit more of our game in that passage.”

Saints were thankful for some majestic play from scrum-half Alex Mitchell, who delivered a sensational try assist during the first half before scoring in the second.

“The more he plays, the better he gets,” Dowson said of the 25-year-old.

“Even when he runs down a blind alley, he seems to make space and get on the front foot. He's a class act and we know how good he is.

“He’s integral to our game but it's great to see our strength in that position, with Tom James last week and Cal (Callum Braley) this week.”