Saints prepared for 'a proper scrap' at Rodney Parade
Sam Vesty says Saints are expecting 'a proper scrap' when they take on the Dragons at Rodney Parade this evening (kick-off 5.30pm).
The Welsh region lie in wait for Saints in the last 16 of the European Challenge Cup.
And the Dragons have certainly developed into a force to be reckoned with, winning back-to-back matches, against Glasgow and Edinburgh, in recent weeks.
Saints would love to do the job today to set up a home quarter-final against Harlequins or Ulster next weekend.
And attack coach Vesty said: "This is our next carrot that's out there that's a really good carrot because there are some really good teams in this competition.
"It's knockout rugby from now on and you don't get many chances to play knockout rugby as a professional rugby player because most of your games are league-based.
"When you get them you've got to use them to understand what knockout rugby is about and what it looks like, and that's a really good challenge for us as a group.
"This is a really good test.
"Can we go and beat the Dragons and move to that next step? But I'm not looking too far past that because Dragons are a really good team and it's going to be a proper scrap."