'I don't think we're miles away' - Dowson not fazed by Saints' difficult away run

The black, green and gold have still won just one Gallagher Premiership away match in 2024, with that victory coming in the first game of the year, at Exeter Chiefs.

Since then, they have lost six successive league away encounters, including all three this season.

But after the 31-23 defeat at Bristol Bears, Dowson said: "It's hard to win away.

"We're conscious of those stats and working incredibly hard.

"The only thing you can do is train, make sure you look after your performance and I don't think we're miles away.

"I think we'll continue to improve, particularly this group, and we'll keep plugging away."

Saints had flown into a 15-0 lead at Bristol, but the Bears bit back and piled on the pressure during a second period that saw Dowson's men forced to do a huge amount of defending.

"They managed to keep playing their game," the Saints boss said. "It was full energy, 100 miles per hour and they managed to create so many opportunities.

"We defended with a huge amount of pride but we didn't manage to keep them out in the last 20 minutes and that really turned the tide.

"Two scores back to back and we were under scoreboard pressure then."

Saints could take plenty of positives from the game at Bristol as several players excelled in the absence of the club's England stars, who have been at an international training camp in Girona this week.

"We talk about the squad being the core to our strength and the fact that people like Tom Litchfield and Tom Seabrook can drop in and put in a performance, particularly in the first half where we were so strong, is a positive," Dowson said.

"We obviously need to get more quality and keep working and developing those individuals, but at the same time there's so much talent in the squad, we just need to be a bit better at getting our game on the pitch."