Saints have a 'point to prove' as they return to Premiership action

The black, green and gold go into the clash with Newcastle Falcons at Kingston Park on the back of back-to-back Investec Champions Cup wins.

Victories against Clermont Auvergne and Castres have propelled them into the semi-finals for the second year in succession.

And just as they did last year, Saints must travel to Dublin to face Leinster on the first weekend of May.

But the focus now switches back to domestic action, with games against Newcastle and Bristol Bears lying in wait during the next two weeks.

And Saints are keen to right some wrongs as they currently sit eighth in the standings, having lost all of their Premiership away games so far this season.

"Off the back of a pretty amazing performance in Europe, we want to build in the Prem," Iyogun said.

"We think that we've sort of underperformed in some games in the Prem and we want to put that right.

"There is a point to prove in that sense, going into the Prem and delivering a performance we can be proud of away from home.

"Away fixtures have been pretty difficult for us in recent times so we want to make that right."

Newcastle may be bottom of the Premiership, but they have beaten Exeter Chiefs and Saracens at Kingston Park this season.

And Iyogun said: "It's a very, very different challenge - gritty, up north, quite the contrast (to Europe).

"The lads are so stoked to get back into playing in the Prem.

"It's a challenge we're not underestimating and one we're going to attack head on."

With the Leinster game not far away, Saints could be forgiven for resting some players in the next two weeks.

But loosehead prop Iyogun said: "Any player wants to compete every single week.

"You never take it for granted that there's been points in your career where you're injured and can't play so every opportunity you get to play when you're fit to and your body isn't sort of just holding on, you want to take.

"But obviously the coaches' job is to pick the team and you leave them to that."

Saints have reached the semi-finals of the Champions Cup in back-to-back seasons, having previously lost 10 games in a row in the competition.

"It (reaching the final four again) is pretty awesome in many ways," Iyogun said.

"With the way this season's panned out, it's been quite segmented so going back into Europe we set ourselves a challenge to carry on our European momentum.

"We look back on trips like the one to the Bulls and we want to create more memories.

"It's quite the turnaround in Europe for us and you look at the opposition we're playing, they're very skilled, but we understand that when we play our game and we do all our facets correctly, we can go toe to toe with massive clubs.

"We're not underdogs any more, we're not people outsiders hope will win, we go into games and make people think 'Saints are really on it'."