Saints lock Day wary of threat posed by ‘abrasive’ Newcastle

But the Saints lock feels the Falcons will find his team difficult to stop if they are on form at Franklin’s Gardens on Saturday.

Northampton have won eight of their 11 games in all competitions this season and currently sit second in the Aviva Premiership standings.

Newcastle have also enjoyed a positive start, picking up three wins from their first seven league games, keeping well clear clear of the relegation zone.

And Day said: “They’ve gone back to what they were in years gone by, which is a tough, abrasive team.

“They’re tough to beat at home, they’ve got some good quality coaches, who set up a team to be difficult to beat and put in the hard graft. That’s been shown.

“They’ve picked up some good wins and they’re a tough team to beat.

“But, conversely, we know that if we perform correctly, particularly when we’re at home and we’ve got the fans behind us, we’re difficult to stop.”

Saints have won five successive games and will welcome back their England contingent for Saturday’s showdown.

“We’re very positive, we’re very enthusiastic about how we’ve done so far,” said Day.

“We’re not looking past Newcastle, who gave a good test to Saracens at their place until half-time and who underperformed last week and will be smarting a little bit.

“They’ll be coming here looking to prove a point.

“We know not to take them too easy but we’re certainly confident in our own ability and we’re looking to put a good performance in at home.

“We don’t like to lose at home, we’re welcoming the internationals back into the squad and we’ll get on with things.”