Versatile back Litchfield loves winging it with Saints

The 23-year-old has played the majority of his 58 appearances at centre, but in recent times he has started to be utilised on the wing more and more.

He was given the nod out wide for the Investec Champions Cup semi-final against Leinster in Dublin earlier this month, and performed impressively in the stunning Saints success.

"It would have definitely have been a surprise (a couple of years ago), certainly to be on the wing and even to be starting!" Litchfield said at this week's media session.

"It was definitely the biggest game I've played in and one of my proudest moments in a Saints shirt.

"It was an amazing occasion and great to put in a performance that no one was really expecting from us.

"To get the win as well was just one of the best days of my career so far."

So how about life on the wing?

"I guess it's been alright because I've been quite consistently playing there for the past few weeks so I'm getting more and more used to it and the nuances of that position," Litchfield said. "I've been enjoying it.

"You've got a bit more space to deal with and you've also got to look at the backfield and receiving kicks, stuff like that.

"I quite like receiving a kick and getting the chance to run it back so that's quite nice.

"My first game on the wing was against Bristol so you've got (Gabriel) Ibitoye and players like that so it's been challenging but I've been enjoying it.

"You see Freemo (Tommy Freeman) gets touches all over the pitch so we're definitely freed up to roam the pitch and see where we can get our hands on the ball.

"You get a lot more one-on-ones and you are in a lot of space out there so it is a bit different to get used to but I'm getting more and more comfortable there.

"I've been doing a lot of defence stuff with Radders (Saints defence coach Lee Radford) and sometimes we might want our wingers to be a bit higher so I've been doing a bit of that work and it's been helping a lot."

Litchfield was back in his more familiar centre role last Sunday as he was the only man to retain his place from Dublin to face Exeter Chiefs.

Saints' heavily-rotated team eventually lost 42-14 at Sandy Park, but they produced an impressive showing overall.

"I feel we put in a really good performance and three or four of those tries were from turnover or a little mistake we didn't quite get right," Litchfield said.

"I thought on the whole, especially in the first half, we performed really well.

"It was a team who hadn't played a lot together and we had six debutants in that game in the Premiership.

"We put in a performance that showed real heart, a lot of intent and the boys were definitely hard done by with that scoreline."

"We looked at it (the Exeter game) on Tuesday morning but we've got another job to do this week.

"There's stuff to be picked up individually from the Exeter game but we've got a big game against Sarries this weekend."

Saints' title defence may have officially ended due to that defeat at Exeter, but Litchfield insists there is still plenty to play for in the final home game of the campaign this Saturday.

Saints face Saracens, a week before travelling to Cardiff for the Investec Champions Cup final.

"The final is in the back of our mind but it's our last home game of the year, last one for the fans at home and we're obviously doing a shirt presentation for the guys leaving after," Litchfield said.

"It's going to be really important to put out a performance that we need, not only for our last home game of the year but also to get us ready for the final.

"The first thing we want to do is put on a good performance for the fans and hopefully we get a full house."