Dowson wants 'same energy' as last season when Saints face Falcons

But the black, green and gold boss expects a different kind of encounter against the Falcons at Kingston Park on Sunday afternoon.

Saints produced one of their best performances of the previous campaign as they scored 10 tries to enhance their Gallagher Premiership play-off bid back in April.

But the team they are able to select this weekend is vastly different, with international players away and injuries hitting the club hard.

"You've obviously got to hope for the same (performance as last season) but they will be different conditions, there's a different director of rugby for them, different players in both squads so it's going to be vastly different to last season," Dowson said.

"But if we can get some of the energy we had in that game then we won't be too far away."

Alex Codling took over as Falcons boss during the summer.

So has Dowson seen changes in what Saints can expect from Newcastle?

"Little bits," he said.

"Alex Codling will be putting his mark on it there.

"I know Codders so I know how thoughtful he'll be in terms of what he's trying to put together.

"They've always had a really committed and competitive squad in terms of what they want to do and how they represent the north east and that's an exciting challenge for us."

Dowson is a former Newcastle player, having captained the Falcons before switching to Saints in the summer of 2009.

And he always looks forward to returning to the north east.

"I'm always excited about going home," Dowson said.

"My mum still lives up there so it will be an evening out with her the night before the game, have a meal and then get ready for the game."

Saints have lost both of their Premiership matches so far, suffering a 20-15 defeat at Sale Sharks before being beaten 33-27 at home by Bristol Bears last Saturday.

"We've had two games now where we've had a similar outcome in terms of having the opportunity to win the game in the last minutes, but we had such different feelings afterwards," Dowson said.

"Against Sale away from home, I thought we really fronted up, showed what we're capable of, showed a lot of the stuff we've been training for.

"Against Bristol, we had large swathes of the game, particularly in the second half, where we weren't quite at it.

"We're disappointed with those elements of our game against Bristol but we know if we get that right we're a handful, and we've shown that against lots of different sides over a long period of time.

"Of course everyone wants to win: the fans, the coaches, the players but it's about where is that win going to come from, what's important in the here and the now and what's going to gives us the best opportunity to get that win?"