Dowson expects Gloucester to be 'breathing fire' in bid for revenge at Saints
Phil Dowson expects Gloucester to be 'breathing fire' when they face Saints at cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens on Saturday afternoon (kick-off 3pm).
The Cherry and Whites were on the end of a record loss on their last visit to the Gardens, suffering a 90-0 humiliation back in May.
That defeat came as Gloucester boss George Skivington opted to rest his star players for their European Challenge Cup final against the Sharks on the following weekend.
And it is sure to be a vastly different encounter when Saints take on Skivington's side this Saturday.
"Skiv rested a lot of players for their European final and it was just one of those days for Gloucester," said Dowson when asked about that game against Gloucester last season.
"We've got to be aware of how they're going to turn up to try to put that to bed.
"I think they'll come breathing fire, fully fired up and ready to get stuck into us after what happened last time."
Gloucester have undergone a summer of transformation, changing their style with strong results as they are now far more free-flowing than they were during the previous campaign.
They actually sit above Saints in the Gallagher Premiership table, having won two of their matches so far, bagging a total of eight bonus points.
The Cherry and Whites claimed a stunning 44-41 success at Bristol Bears earlier this season, showing just how dangerous they can be on the road.
And Dowson knows it will be a tough test for Saints after his side claimed three successive wins in the Premiership Rugby Cup.
The Saints boss said: "Gloucester have had a huge change in their attacking focus and they're top pretty much in all of the attacking metrics this season in terms of line-breaks and offloads and tries scored from 22.
"They've been excellent and very, very dangerous.
"It's a very big challenge to come straight into off the back of the PRC (Premiership Rugby Cup)."