Mallinder praises Saints subs after pair suffer injury blow

Ben Nutley starred at Sixways (pictures: Kirsty Edmonds)

Jim Mallinder has hailed Ben Nutley and Tom Kessell for ensuring Saints didn't suffer after losing two senior players early on at Worcester on Friday night.

Skipper-for-the-night Sam Dickinson and last season’s club captain Lee Dickson were both forced off inside the opening 25 minutes at Sixways.

But flanker Nutley and scrum-half Kessell made impressive impacts from the bench, and were eventually two of Saints’ better performers in an 18-17 win.

And Mallinder said: “I was really pleased with both of those.

Tom Kessell made a big impact for Saints at Worcester

“You don’t want to make early replacements if you can help it, but Ben and Tom came on and played a very big part in our success.”

And when asked about the nature of the injuries sustained by Dickinson and Dickson, Mallinder said: “They’re both a little bit sore.

“We don’t know the extent of the soreness, but Sam Dickinson’s hurt his knee - he got his studs trapped in the surface.

“Lee Dickson took a blow to his ribs.”