Saints Q&A: Tom Vickers talks to in-form centre Tom Litchfield

But that is exactly what Tom Litchfield has done, getting better week after week for the black, green and gold, earning plenty of richly-deserved praise in recent times.

He shone on the big stage in the win against Saracens at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium at the end of March, and he was at it again at Exeter last Saturday, playing a huge role in a crucial 35-28 Gallagher PREM success.

This week, the centre, who turned 24 on Monday, sat down to discuss the victory at Sandy Park, his own performances and look forward to facing Bath in a sold-out PREM game at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens on Saturday.

Here is the full question and answer session with Litchfield…

Q: How was the game against Exeter for you?

A: "It was good. There were a few frustrating parts but as we always say - we always trust our game, trust our DNA and have the belief we can always get the result, whether that be in the 81st minute or not.

"It was a frustrating game in parts but we knew they had a good defence, we knew they would throw a lot at us in attack so it was just those frustrating parts you have to get through and get our game on the pitch, which we did.

"Then, as you can see, we managed to stay in the game to get the result."

Q: You took a knock during the match. How are you now?

"I got a dead arm early in the first half but I padded it up, managed to carry on and it should be all good."

Q: What were you most pleased about from your own performance?

A: "I got through a lot of work. I want to carry as much as I can, that's what I'm good at so I want to get the team going forward and provide some opportunities for other guys through the contact.

"I was pretty happy I managed to do that a few times."

Q: How much is belief building for you personally after playing so well in so many big matches?

A: "I obviously relish those opportunities.

"I was disappointed to be on the bench for the quarter-final against Bath because you don't want to miss those big games, but I'm really looking forward to this run-in and hopefully being involved in as many big games as I can."

Q: What were the emotions for you watching most of that game against Bath from the bench?

A: "It was a little bit of a roller coaster because obviously we got away to that big lead and the second half got a lot closer.

"But still, sitting on the bench, you have the belief the boys can do it.

"Unfortunately on that day we weren't on the right side of it, but there's still a belief that we have."

Q: How much do you have to analyse that defeat to Bath going into this next game against them?

A: "We looked at it a little bit.

"We obviously reviewed it the week after that last game against them but we looked at Exeter as quite a good test run for similar threats that Bath will have.

"We're feeling in good stead and we've looked at things we can work on to put into this game that we did against Exeter."

Q: This game has obviously been sold out for quite a while so it must be nice to be back at home playing against Bath rather than going there?

A: "We haven't been at home for a few weeks so we're really looking forward to playing in front of a packed-out Gardens and we know the fans will be behind us.

"Hopefully we can put out a performance worthy of their support."

Q: How much is the improvement in the weather going to help Saints' performances?

A: "Our style of play suits the dryer and summer weather because we can throw it around a bit more.

"But I'd like to think we're a team that can perform in any conditions and whatever the weather's doing on Saturday, I'm sure it will be fine."

Q: What were the biggest lessons you took from the Bath game a couple of weeks ago?

A: "Definitely some parts of our defence.

"We let in a few soft tries so there was definitely some stuff we really wanted to work on going into Exeter, and now we can follow that on into Bath again."

Q: Do you take a lot of positives from the first half at Bath?

A: "We felt from the Bath game that we had enough in that game to win it so obviously our attack in that first 30 was outstanding, as it usually is.

"There were lots of positives to take from it and hopefully we can have more of that attacking prowess in this game."

Q: What do you think has really developed in your game this season?

A: "Post-injury, I really wanted to get back playing and put my stamp on the squad in that centre position.

"The boys are playing with confidence, I'm playing with confidence, so I'm just relishing the opportunity."

Q: Has there been a particular highlight in this season for you so far?

A: "The game at Tottenham Hotspur was quite special, to set Archie (McParland) up in the dying minutes.

"That was a cool one and a cool stadium."

Q: Have you been enjoying getting used to playing in front of those big crowds?

A: "Yeah, when we've gone on runs in Europe, we get to play in cool stadiums like Croke Park, the Aviva Stadium and the Principality Stadium so quite often you're quite zoned in on what you're doing and you can really hear the crowd too much when you're in the moment, but it's really cool to experience that."

Q: How much do players like Fraser Dingwall and Rory Hutchinson help you out?

A: "I love playing alongside either of those two.

"Obviously they're both experienced guys, international players so they're great to play with, great to learn from and very valued members of the squad."