Dowson wants Saints to give Gardens fans something to shout about

But the Saints boss has warned that 'it's not a magic pitch' as he insists his players have to give their supporters something to shout about in the Gallagher Premiership play-off semi-final.

The Gardens will once again be sold out as champions Saracens come to town in the battle to make the June 8 showpiece at Twickenham.

This game will be played on the 10-year anniversary of Saints' only Premiership final triumph, when they edged out Saracens thanks to an extra-time try from Alex Waller.

And Dowson said: “The Friday night adds a bit to it in terms of the energy around it and Franklin's Gardens this season, particularly in the second half of the season, has been absolutely jumping.

“It should be a fairly lively atmosphere.”

And when asked how much of an advantage playing at home is, Dowson said: “Playing away from home is tough, you see that across the league and rugby union is one of the higher ones where winning away is tough.

“It's definitely an advantage but it's not a magic pitch.

“The crowd are great but they're not going to score many points so we've got to make sure we give them something to cheer about and that creates an atmosphere for us.”

Saints have lost each of their past three Premiership play-off semi-finals, all away from home.

They have not won one since going on to claim glory in 2014.

And they know they will face a tough task against a Saracens side so used to winning Premiership titles, having claimed the crown in five of their past nine seasons.

“When you get to this stage of the season, everyone is charging momentum wise so we know the talent, the history, the players leaving Saracens so there's obviously going to be some narrative surrounding that,” Dowson said.

“We've got to make sure we focus on entirely on our performance and make sure what we've built throughout the season comes to the fore.”

Saints finished top of the regular-season table and opted to rest the majority of their first-choice players at Bath last time out.

That means most of the men who will face Saracens won't have played since the 90-0 win against Gloucester on May 11.

But Dowson said: “If you take into context the whole season, they've had a lot of tough games.

“It's been a long season, runs of games.

“It doesn't worry me too much and hopefully we bear the fruit of the energy they can bring into the group moving forward.”