Ashton piles pressure on Saints ahead of Saracens showdown
Saracens star Chris Ashton insists the pressure will be on Saints in Saturday’s Aviva Premiership play-off semi-final at Franklin’s Gardens.
Ashton, who left Northampton for Sarries in the summer of 2012, scored four tries to help his team thrash London Welsh 68-17 on Saturday.
That ensured Mark McCall’s men would finish fourth, setting up a game against the champions at the Gardens this weekend.
And Ashton feels that Saints will be favourites, having finished top of the regular-season table, just as Sarries did last season before losing to Jim Mallinder’s side in the final.
“They’re in the position we were last year: all the pressure’s on them,” Ashton said.
“We’ve come fourth and we’ve got to go to Northampton - we know the task we’ve got to do.
“We’ve had a good couple of games against them so we’re looking forward to it.
“The pressure’s not on us, it’s on Northampton.”