'Engine is full of diesel when it should have petrol in it' - Boyd's summary after Saints lose to Sale

The black, green and gold shipped six tries as they endured a seventh successive loss at Franklin's Gardens.

It was a 12th defeat in the past 14 matches as the shocking streak continued for struggling Saints.

And Boyd was left to ponder his team's torrid transformation during 2020.

He said: "I was doing some preparation during the week for the Gloucester game (this Sunday) and went back to the game here on December 28. I thought 'let's go back and see what it was that's different to now'.

"The first thing was that it was amazing to watch a game with a full crowd so that's the first thing that's missing that is very noticeable.

"The place was full just after Christmas and it was a great atmosphere.

"It was the same team, same group of people, trying to play the same game, but it looked very different.

"I know the performance is in there, I know that the cattle to produce the performance is in there.

"I know the way we want to play the game we're capable of playing, but it's like the engine is full of diesel when it should have petrol in it at the moment."

Saints produced another error-strewn showing against Sale, scoring just twice, through Ahsee Tuala and Alex Mitchell.

And Boyd, whose side were top of the table when they went to Sale back in December but who are now seventh in the standings, added: "Frustrating is a reasonably good word.

"The boys are trying hard, they're putting a shift in, but it's just inaccuracies, the little things.

"They're trying and they desperately want to turn it around and the more you get desperate, the more you feel the pressure from a losing streak and the worse it seems to have got.

"The positives for me is that they are incredibly frustrated and incredibly disappointed and this will be a good sounding board for us to push the reset button."