Dickson knows going fourth doesn't mean Saints will conquer

Lee Dickson knows Saints face a massive set of games in the race to finish in the Aviva Premiership top four (picture: Sharon Lucey)

And the skipper knows just one slip up could prove so costly for his men.

Saints secured a 26-11 victory against Sale Sharks last weekend, with the bonus-point success helping Jim Mallinder’s men move into fourth.

However, they have a hugely testing run-in, with Sunday’s game at Exeter Chiefs followed by clashes with Harlequins, Wasps, Leicester Tigers, Bath and Gloucester.

And when asked what it meant go go above Leicester into fourth last weekend, Dickson said: “It doesn’t really matter.

“You can look at the table as much as you want, but we’ve just got to take game by game and make sure we do the right things.

“It was massive for us to win last weekend.

“You slip up in this league now and you’re back down to eight.

“Especially at home, we needed a big win.

“In the second half, we played some unbelievable rugby and it was great to see JJ (Hanrahan) get over to get us that five points that gets us into the top four.

“It was a brilliant second-half perfomance.

“At half-time, we were disappointed with our discipline. We gave away about 12 penalties in that first half and in the Premiership you can’t do that.

“Against a good team like Sale, if you don’t have field position you will get punished.

“But we fought back well and with them going down to 14 men, we got that try just before half-time and set the tone.

“After half-time, we made sure it counted.”