'Empty' feeling for Saints after 'lucky escape' in win against Bath
Fraser Dingwall admitted there was an 'empty' feeling for Saints after what he labelled their 'lucky escape' against Bath on Saturday evening.
The black, green and gold grabbed a 41-38 win with the final kick of an enthralling game as Fin Smith held his nerve to notch a penalty.
But the Saints players and coaches barely celebrated the victory, instead feeling they could and should have been far better in several areas against a heavily-rotated Bath team.
And Dingwall, who captained the team on the day, said: "Unfortunately, we walked off and it kind of felt like a loss in a way. It's a really weird feeling.
"You don't get much satisfaction from games like that when it feels like you didn't perform and it felt like we were lacklustre and kind of drifted through the game in large parts.
"There were so many elements of what we value and what we want to be so much better at that we were poor at.
"It's a bit of a lucky escape and you just feel empty on the back of it."
When asked whether Saints felt too comfortable when they went 21-7 up in the first half, Dingwall said: "Potentially.
"There's obviously something that's played on the psyche of people because there's so many parts of that game that didn't function.
"There were so many parts of the game where all the little bits and fundamentals that make your game tick essentially weren't on and that lies up top.
"So it has to be due to an external factor, it has to be due to something that's in the mindset, whether that's whoever they put out, the lead we gathered, whatever.
"That's the disappointing thing because to be the best, which is what we want to be, you have to push every week so you get better each time.
"You have to understand what you're about and create habits."
Saints now get next weekend off as they prepare to travel to Leicester Tigers for another big Gallagher PREM game on May 9.
"It will be good for the boys to get a bit of a break and come back for the final block," Dingwall said.
"We've got four league games left and there's some stuff we want to tick off, some achievements we want to make and there's only four games left for a lot of class boys who have given a lot to this club over the years.
"It will be well timed."