Gloucester boss Skivington expects 'fierce battle' against Saints

Both teams still harbour hopes of a top-four finish, with just five points separating the sides in the Gallagher Premiership standings.

Gloucester currently have the upper hand, having won nine of their 16 games, while Saints have won eight of theirs.

And Skivington is hoping home advantage will help his team get over the line this weekend.

“It’s great to be back at Kingsholm," Skivington said.

"It feels like ages since we’ve played here after a couple of away games and a week off.

"We’re really looking forward to seeing a full crowd.

“Saints play some good rugby.

"There’s a group of teams in the middle of the table who all have a slightly different way of playing but it’s very competitive.

“Saints have had some unlucky results and they play a good brand of rugby so I think it will be a real fierce battle and hopefully a good spectacle for everybody.”

While Saints have suffered three successive defeats, Gloucester have lost their past two matches, the most recent of which came at Leicester Tigers last weekend.

The Cherry and Whites were beaten 35-23 by the table-toppers at Mattioli Woods Welford Road.

And Skivington said: “There are a huge amount of lessons.

"Obviously we were disappointed because we wanted to go up there and give it a shot and we felt that we were in a good position to do that.

"We fell short in the end and I was impressed with Leicester and how organised they are.

"They are top of the league and have only lost a couple of games for a reason. You can see that when you’re up there and you see it in the flesh.

“We were great in the first half and were well organised and executed our plays and went in at the break ahead which was great.

“In the second half, we’ve taken a huge amount from that.

"We had some great discussions around that on Monday about what it takes if we want to beat teams and be up there.

"The lessons are huge and the boys have embraced that and there is lots of honesty and lots of direction.

“Once you get over the disappointment of losing, which is always there, I think there’s some real growth for us after that game.”