Big chance for Saints players to step up in the cup

Actually, it would have been more welcome last week so they didn't have to head to the Stoop so short-handed, but they did come agonisingly close to claiming a spirited win in that 22-19 defeat.

Now, sitting eighth in the league standings, Saints will take a break from their Premiership endeavours and return to a competition in which they sit top of the tree.

Phil Dowson's men have picked up 14 points from a possible 15 in Pool 2, beating Leicester Tigers, Nottingham and Coventry so far.

And Saints would dearly love another three wins against the same opposition in the next few weeks as they look to put themselves in the best possible position for the quarter-finals and beyond.

"We love this competition, not just this year but in previous years," said Dowson, who takes his team to face Tigers at Mattioli Woods Welford Road on Saturday (kick-off 3pm).

"We've had really good experiences from it and the players have taken a lot from it.

"The whole MO of the club is around development. We get guys in the Academy, they come in at 18, we get guys in who come from the Championship and they go away and play at loan clubs, they work on their game, they get development plans, they get coached by the coaching group here and the PRC is the opportunity for them to put the Saints shirt on for the first time.

"They get to show what they're capable of, to show who they are and to show where they're at from a playing perspective.

"To put those lads together who have been desperate to play and to give them game time and see where they're at and really focus on that group who are coming through to see who's got the mentality for it is really exciting.

"As a coaching group, we love the tournament.

"A lot of the fans really respond to it as well because they get to see that next generation.

"All those lads who are in the England squad at the moment have come through this PRC tournament or the A-League where it's exciting to see their journey really."

Not only is the Premiership Rugby Cup good for blooding young guns, it's also valuable in helping injured players make their return to action.

Saints have had several men sidelined in recent weeks, including Burger Odendaal, who is now closing in on his comeback after the knee injury he suffered in last season's Premiership final.

"It's good for getting game time for guys who have been out for a long period of time," said Dowson, who has 23 players unavailable for selection this week.

"Hopefully Burger, depending on how we get on, will get an opportunity.

"So it's a really good focus for us to get people back into the mixer and get some minutes under their belt."

On South African centre Odendaal, Dowson added: "He's been very good and the one thing we don't want to do is rush it.

"We want to make sure we make really good decisions around that reintegration to contact.

"His application speaks volumes about him as a person and his professionalism and diligence is impressive and speaks volumes about what a good man he is."

Saints will play cup matches on the next three weekends before taking a weekend off ahead of what they hope will be a cup quarter-final appearance.

They do not return to Premiership action until Leicester come calling for a derby date at cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens on March 21.

"There's a break week anyway in the middle of that seven-week block so we've got three games, a break week and then it's knockout rugby after that," Dowson said.

"We want to be playing in those knockout games, we want to be in the mixer for those matches for lots of different reasons.

"We will rotate the players and we want to see lots of different players get amounts of game time, guys coming back from injury.

"And because we don't know who Leicester, Nottingham and Coventry are going to pick, we'll concentrate entirely on ourselves.

"We look at stats throughout the season to see where we need to be better as a group and things we can sharpen up on and we'll focus on them in training so we have a real improvement plan."