Scotland star Sean Lamont believes Northampton have no reason to start pressing panic buttons despite their worrying Premiership plight.
Saints head to play-off contenders Bristol on Sunday, having recorded a solitary league success from their last eight starts.
They are bottom of the table, one point behind Worcester with a game in hand, but the Bristol trip is followed by successive away appointments with Newcastle and Wasps.
But wing Lamont, who returns to domestic duty on Sunday following the RBS 6 Nations campaign, said: “We are only one point off Worcester, so there is no point in pushing any panic buttons yet.
“We’ve got a game in hand, which is helpful, because if we get a win then we can open up a bit of a gap.
“There has been a good mood in training this week, but everything in rugby is down to the weekend.
“You can have a wonderful training session but still play badly and lose. Sometimes you have the worst training week, and the boys gel together at the weekend and get the win.
“That is what we have got to do. We have just got to target this weekend and then think about the other games later.”
Lamont’s reappearance means Bruce Reihana moves from wing to full-back, with Carlos Spencer remaining at outside centre and Stephen Myler retaining the number 10 shirt. Up front, one change sees flanker Darren Fox come in for Ben Lewitt.
Bristol are under pressure to remain in the play-off zone, especially following Saracens’ impressive bonus point victory over London Irish on Friday night.
Saracens moved third as a result, leaving Bristol one place below them and desperate for a win against Northampton after suffering successive league reversals against Harlequins, Wasps, Irish and Saracens.
Head coach Richard Hill, though, insists the west country club are still in control of their own destiny.
All four of their remaining league games are in Bristol – they face Saints, Worcester and Leicester – while Gloucester have switched an April 28 home fixture to Bristol City’s Ashton Gate ground because of development work at Kingsholm.
