Director of rugby Jim Mallinder today called on the Northampton Saints squad to regain their recent momentum when they travel to the Madejski Stadium tomorrow afternoon.

The Aviva Premiership Rugby Round 21 match against London Irish has taken on plenty of significance, with both the Saints and Exiles both still very much in the hunt for a spot in the play-offs.

The Saints’ five-match winning streak came to an end at Kingsholm on Tuesday night, and Mallinder said that it was important that the team got off to a good start in Reading.

“London Irish have come back into good form recently and it will be a tough game tomorrow,” the Saints boss commented. “They have been playing well over the past few weeks, especially at home, and we know that we need to be fully focused right from the first whistle.

“We came literally within a couple of inches of getting something out of the game against Gloucester on Tuesday, and all of the players have been determined to go one better at the Madejski Stadium and regain the momentum which we had built up over the past month or so.

“We know we need a positive result and this is what we have been working towards in training this week.”

Tomorrow’s game is being shown live on Sky Sports 1, with coverage starting from 2:30pm. Alternatively you can follow all the action in the Saints’ Facebook match blog and get score updates via the club’s Twitter feed. BBC Radio Northampton will carry live commentary, which you can also find online via PremiershipRugby.tv.

NORTHAMPTON SAINTS TEAM TO PLAY LONDON IRISH
Aviva Premiership Rugby Round 21
Madejski Stadium
Saturday, April 23rd, 2011
Kick off 3:00pm
15 Ben Foden
14 Chris Ashton
13 Jon Clarke
12 James Downey
11 Paul Diggin
10 Stephen Myler
9 Lee Dickson
1 Soane Tonga’uiha
2 Dylan Hartley (capt)
3 Brian Mujati
4 Courtney Lawes
5 Christian Day
6 Calum Clark
7 Phil Dowson
8 Roger Wilson

Replacements
16 Brett Sharman
17 Alex Waller
18 Tom Mercey
19 Mark Sorenson
20 Mark Easter
21 Stuart Commins
22 Shane Geraghty
23 Joe Ansbro