Dowson still hurting but boss is buoyed by Saints' response ahead of Sale clash

But his mood has at least been lifted somewhat by the response he has seen from his squad, who got together in the aftermath of that horrible night in a bid to piece together what went wrong.

Saints, who were beaten 33-0 last Friday, returned to training on Sunday and senior players took it upon themselves to lead a meeting without the coaches, feeling the need to take ownership of a tough situation.

And Dowson has been pleased with the response his men have shown ahead of Friday night's must-win Gallagher Premiership game at Sale Sharks.

"I'm buoyed by the energy the playing group have had in how we want to respond to that setback - and it was a big setback," Dowson said.

Saints conceded three tries in the space of eight minutes early in the match before eventually being nilled in a Premiership game at the Gardens for the first time.

The result left any lingering play-off hopes hanging by a thread and a number of fans left the Gardens well before the final whistle.

"The fans are well within their rights to vote with their feet, and that's their decision,” Dowson said.

"I was more disappointed with my own performance as a director of rugby and in the team's ability to execute the game plan.

"We know that if we play well the fans will sit and cheer, and if we don't they won't, so we've got to make sure we know what playing well is and how we prepare for that."

Though everyone at Saints is hurting after what happened on derby day, it's clear that the players and coaches feel more pain than anyone else

"Sometimes you think there's no effort, but that's not the case," Dowson said.

"Often there's too much effort, too much stress or they (the players) are too worried about what they're doing or making mistakes, and we made a lot of them.

"It just exacerbated the situation by continually pushing ourselves to try to be better, and we fell flat.

"So there's no one more disappointed than the players because they're out there in the limelight, taking the heat, taking the abuse when it goes badly and also taking the credit when it goes well.

"We need to support them and give them the best opportunity to respond and play well."

During his playing days, Dowson was part of Saints squads that became known for their incredible bouncebackability.

Jim Mallinder's team suffered huge home defeats to the likes of Ulster and Leinster, only to go and win in the opposition's backyard on the following weekend.

So how did Saints do that back in the day and what lessons can be learned to take into a trip to Sale on Friday night?

"It comes down to not throwing the baby out with the bath water," Dowson said.

"The first thing Colesy (Alex Coles) said was that we don't become a bad side after one bad performance - I appreciate there's been some inconsistency throughout our performance this year but nothing to the extent we saw on Friday - so it's the character of the group that is challenged.

"And when challenged, these lads generally always step up, so we're looking forward to seeing that response."