Dowson discusses Saints' defeat to Gloucester and delivers updates on Smith and Hendy

Saints lost their 13-match home Gallagher Premiership winning streak as Santiago Carreras racked up 20 points in the Cherry and Whites win.

Dowson's men were made to pay for a flat first-half performance, during which they fell 22-7 down.

They did try to mount a comeback in the second period, but Gloucester, who lost 90-0 at the Gardens back in May, just about held firm, making the most of more Saints errors to see the game out.

And Dowson said: "It's hugely disappointing. We were poor in the first half and credit to Gloucester because they were excellent, they got right on top of us and we gave ourselves too much to do in that second half.

"I'm not even sure we deserved a losing bonus point, to be honest.

"It's hugely frustrating, disappointing and emotional after a game and there's obviously some things in terms of tactics where we weren't at the races but emotionally we weren't in the right place and Gloucester came here all guns blazing and had a point to prove. They proved it, we didn't stand up for the fight and that's probably the most disappointing thing."

Saints lost Fin Smith to an eye injury after just four minutes and George Hendy was forced off with concussion later in the half.

"Fin Smith passed his head injury assessment but he couldn't see out of one of his eyes because he got a knee to the eye," Dowson said. "He passed his HIA but he had blurred vision in one of his eyes so he couldn't continue.

"George Hendy failed his head injury assessment."

The one positive for Saints, who suffered their fourth league defeat in seven games this season, was the return of Alex Mitchell.

The England scrum-half came on early in the second half, making his first appearance of the season after overcoming a neck problem.

And Mitchell provided a typically sparky performance.

"Alex Mitchell's input was excellent," Dowson said. "For him to be away for that long and to come back and play so well and have such an impact was great.

"He rode the crest of a wave in the second half because the rest of the group picked themselves up a little bit and created some faster ball for him. He was excellent."