Dowson discusses how Saints are dealing with disruption ahead of Saracens clash
Phil Dowson has discussed the challenges presented by this week's three-day England training camp.
Saints have six players away with the Red Rose, who linked up on Sunday night to train through to the end of Tuesday.
Alex Coles, Henry Pollock, Alex Mitchell, Fin Smith, Fraser Dingwall and Tommy Freeman have all been with England.
Saints are set to face Saracens, who also have six players with England, in a sold-out Gallagher PREM game at cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens on Friday night (kick-off 7.45pm).
And when asked at Tuesday's media session how disrupted the preparations for that game have been due to the England training camp, Dowson said: "It's very disrupted because we don't necessarily review the Newcastle game particularly with that group because they're obviously in England camp.
"Our main training day is today (Tuesday) so we don't get a full training day (with the England players) in today.
"We could make them train Wednesday, have Thursday off and then play Friday but after a couple of tough days of training (with England), it's probably best to give them time off (on Wednesday).
"Thursday is the day we'll bring those boys back in and get them on page to make sure they're ready to go."
Coles, Pollock, Mitchell, Smith, Dingwall and Freeman all played an important role in helping Saints to beat Newcastle Red Bulls 36-19 at Kingston Park last Friday.
And having now had more time to reflect on that win, Dowson said: "We spoke before about the reaction we’d most likely see from Newcastle and the quality they possess, and we definitely saw that.
"We started very well, which was one of the things we really went after, but we then gave them opportunities to generate momentum, they did that and it became a tug of war.
"It speaks volumes about the group and the perseverance and resilience we’ve generated over the past couple of years to still come through when everything went against us at times.”