Saints skipper Hartley wary of wounded Worcester

Northampton head to Sixways as big favourites, having won six of their eight Aviva Premiership games this season.

In contrast, the Warriors have lost all eight of their fixtures, shipping 224 points in the process.

But skipper Hartley, back in the Saints side after injury, is taking nothing for granted – and he has urged his team-mates not to, either.

“Unfortunately for Worcester they’re sat at the bottom of the table and we’re at the other end,” said the England hooker.

“The biggest fear for me is going there and losing to a proud Worcester team. They’re playing for everything at the moment.

“They want to get off that bottom spot so we’re going to have to go there and be right otherwise it could be bad for us.

“But there’s no reason we can’t go there and win. Our away form’s pretty good this season.

“We’re not worried too much about the result. We’re thinking about the process we worked on in the week, things we’ve seen from their games on the computer.

“If we focus on the process, the result should take care of itself.”

Saints have only lost two of their 12 games in all competitions this season, with defeats at Gloucester and Castres the only blots on the copybook.

Jim Mallinder’s men have only suffered two defeats away from home in the league during the calendar year and have won their past six games in all competitions.

And Hartley said: “Hopefully we’ll just keep on that steady rise because we’re doing well at the moment.

“In the last month we’ve had LV= Cup, we’ve had Premiership, big ‘A’ League fixtures, which have been great for some of our young guys, and we’re going into the Heineken Cup as well.

“We’ve got tournaments all over the show, but as long as we keep playing well and winning games that’s the main thing.”