Pearson puts England frustration to one side as he looks to power Saints past Bristol

Instead, the indefatigable flanker is desperate to drive his club to victory at Ashton Gate on Friday night as he bids to show Red Rose boss Steve Borthwick why he should still be an option on the international stage in the weeks to come.

"It is frustrating – I would have really liked to have been involved in the next couple of weeks,” Pearson said, when asked about being left out of the England squad.

“The lads are out in Girona at the moment, but what I have to focus on now is playing here, doing my best and hopefully I can put into practice what Steve and the coaches have told me what they want to see and what they want me to work on.

“I'm very much Saints-focused and trying my best to get into that autumn squad.”

So what is exactly is it that England want Pearson to improve?

"There's little bits around my defence that I need to pick up,” he said.

“I don't want to go away from anything we do at Saints and change the way we play, but there's still similarities between the two systems that I can improve.

“It's probably those little unseen things that will potentially be found out at international level that I need to work on.”

Pearson will get a great chance to showcase his defensive prowess on Friday night as Saints take on the Gallagher Premiership’s current great entertainers, Bristol Bears.

"It's very exciting,” said Pearson, who will celebrate his 25th birthday on Saturday.

“As we all know, they like to play quite expansively.

“They go with the you-score-we-score kind of thing and they've got some threatening players, particularly in the backs.

“They have a solid set piece as well so it will be a good test.

“Ashton Gate on a Friday is a very good atmosphere so we're really looking forward to it.”

But Pearson insists Saints are determined not to be drawn into a back and forth game of basketball.

He said: "We're going to try to stop them defensively and as soon as we score, the next defensive set is going to be the most important just so we stop that pitter patter that they're after.

“When teams play Bristol they fall into that pattern and they become quite high-scoring games.

“If we can produce some good defence, that puts us in a good position.”

Saints have had some tough times at Ashton Gate in recent years, shipping a half-century of points on each of their past two Premiership trips to the ground.

But Pearson said: “Definitely forget those ones – we're more focusing on our own form at the moment.

“Our home form has been great, and then our away form we're just trying to improve that as much as possible.

“We want to go to these places and really try to get something out of it.

“We're missing a few of the international guys, but it's time for boys to step up.

“There's always guys who are desperate for opportunities and this is it for a lot of people so I'm excited to see how they go.”

One player who has already stepped up for Saints is England Under-20s star Henry Pollock.

"He's been great,” Pearson said.

“He provides a lot of energy for the group and he's very skillful.

“It's good to see him at eight and he's got a couple of strings to his bow.

“He's stepped up really well.

“Missing Juarno Augustus, who is a big ball carrier who really gets us on the front foot, Henry has done really well.

“I'm excited to see how he goes again at such a young age.

“He's impressive, plays with no fear and he'll take it to anyone.”