Away form 'not an issue' for Saints says Mallinder
It might be taxing a few supporters minds but the disparity between Saints home and away form is "not an issue", according to director of rugby Jim Mallinder.
Saints are unbeaten at home for 23 games, and have gained two wins and a draw at Franklin's Gardens in the Guinness Premiership.
But they have lost all five league away trips, with the latest being the 33-10 defeat at Gloucester last weekend.
Some Saints fans are starting to accuse the side of being schizophrenic, but Mallinder insists it is not down to any mental block when the players leave the Franklin's Gardens car park.
Mallinder said: "We need to play better away from home, but we can also improve at home as well.
"It has been tough, we have had five away games in the league and we have been competitive in most of them.
"With a little bit of luck on our side we would have got more points from them, but that is where we are.
"It is not a mental thing, we will do better away from home – we need to."
Mallinder, though, is obviously concerned by Saints' form, so much so that he is not resting anybody for today's European Challenge Cup clash with Bristol in order to get back to winning ways.
Mallinder has decided to put out his strongest side possible for although Saints come into the game at the top of pool two, they have only garnered three league points from their last five Guinness Premiership matches.
"The next two weeks give us an opportunity to get our game in shape, get our players performing well and get ourselves into a good frame of mind," said Mallinder.
"We want to get some momentum back into our season while also looking to continue the good start to our Challenge Cup campaign."
It means Stephen Myler moves back to fly-half and Carlos Spencer drops to the bench, with Chris Mayor back from a thigh injury to play at outside centre, so skipper Bruce Reihana can return to full-back.
Dylan Hartley starts after returning from England duty, with Euan Murray also playing and surprisingly not given a
rest after starring for
Scotland in the autumn
internationals.
Jon Clarke also returns from injury to make the bench with Lee Dickson preferred at scrum-half.
Saints team: Bruce Reihana (capt); 14 Chris Ashton, Chris Mayor, James Downey, Paul Diggin; Stephen Myler, Lee Dickson; Soane Tonga'uiha, Dylan Hartley, Euan Murray, Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe, Christian Day, Mark Easter, Scott Gray, Roger Wilson. Replacements: Paul Shields, Barry Stewart, Alex Rae, Mark Hopley, Ben Foden, Carlos Spencer, Jon Clarke.
Bristol team: Vunga Lilo; Tom Arscott, Luke Eves, Kevin Maggs, Anthony Elliott; Adrian Jarvis, Graeme Beveridge; Mark Irish, Scott Linklater, Peter Bracken; Mariano Sambucetti, Dave Attwood; Matt Salter (capt), Redford Pennycook, James Phillips. Replacements: David Blaney, Ray Hogan, Nathan Budgett, Alfie To'oala, Haydn Thomas, Chris Ashwin, Lee Robinson.
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