'It's not about revenge' - Dowson and Hendy look forward to Saints' trip to Tigers

Saints endured a difficult day at Mattioli Woods Welford Road back in May, being outgunned in pretty much every department as they fell to a 41-17 defeat.

But they made amends for that in the Gallagher PREM play-off semi-final at the Gardens a few weeks later, producing a huge performance to beat Tigers 45-31 and progress to the showpiece, in which they beat Exeter Chiefs to secure the league crown.

Saints have started their title defence with two wins, both at home, and a defeat at Bristol Bears.

And now they will turn their attentions to taking on Tigers in Leicester on Saturday (kick-off 3.05pm).

"We talk about derby day every year and it's very special, particularly with what happened there last year - and I don't think it will be any less emotional this time," Saints boss Dowson said.

"It's not about revenge or vendettas or anything else like that. It's about trying to get our performance on the pitch and making sure we learn lessons from last time.

"Last season was last season, we don't owe anybody anything and we've got to make sure we get stuck in, as we always do."

George Hendy, who was named man of the match in the 28-12 Investec Champions Cup win at home to Cardiff Rugby on Sunday, is looking forward to locking horns with Leicester again.

Hendy said: "Everybody knows how important is it, especially at Leicester because we know we haven't done as well as we want to.

"We want to change that this season and we want to go there and get a result. We're pretty determined on that.

"We carried across the momentum from the Bath match into the Cardiff game, which is important, so hopefully we can attack Leicester with everything we've got this week."