Dowson tells Saints to 'hit the ground running' at Saracens

The black,green and gold have been handed the toughest opening fixture possible as they will head to Allianz Park to face the champions.

It took Saints time to get going last season as they stuttered during the early stages of Chris Boyd's tenure.

But they eventually build up some momentum and a big second half of the season helped them to finish fourth, losing to Exeter Chiefs in the Premiership play-off semi-finals.

"There was a period of time where we didn't quite get our game together," Dowson said.

"We had new coaching staff, new coaches, a new game plan and towards the end of the season we started to get some rhythm.

"We were fortunate enough to get in (the top four) ahead of Wasps and Quins, so basically it was a period of time where things fell into place.

"We've got to make sure we don't have a bedding in period this time, we kick on and make sure we hit the ground running against the reigning champions."

And he added: "We want to make sure we start the season better than we did last year.

"We want to continue to improve and if we do that we give ourselves an opportunity to progress in the Premiership and in Europe.

"How we do that is by looking after details day to day and doing the boring things really well."