Preview: Northampton v Gloucester

Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe will make his 50th appearance in Northampton colours on Saturday as the club take on Gloucester.

Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe will make his 50th appearance in Saints colours on Saturday as the club meet Gloucester.

The Argentine forward, capped 66 times by the Puma, reaches the landmark a season-and-a-half after arriving at Franklin's Gardens. He joins Chris Ashton, Lee Dickson, Ben Foden, Mark Hopley, Euan Murray and Roger Wilson in passing the milestone this season.

Fernandez Lobbe returns to the Saints' line-up with the team now concentrating on the Guinness Premiership run-in, and Director of Rugby Jim Mallinder says that achieving a play-off spot is now the players' sole concern.

“The Guinness Premiership is the only competition left for us now and we can put everything into it,” he said.

“Tomorrow's game against Gloucester is the start of a tough week for us, but everyone is raring to play and looking forward to the challenge.

“We need wins to secure a place in the play-offs. There are still plenty of teams who are in with a chance of making the top four and we still need to pick up league points.

“But playing Gloucester will be difficult. They have a good platform up front and backs who can get over the gain line. They have been playing some good rugby over the past few weeks and we will have to be on top form to get a positive result on Saturday.”

Mallinder also called on the fans to emulate the atmosphere created at Thomond Park last weekend, adding: “The Munster fans really got behind their team. It was just about the noisiest crowd I have experienced and it created a really intimidating atmosphere for us.

“The fans here at the Gardens have always been supportive. But as we go into the last few crucial games of the season it would be fantastic for them to create a real cauldron of noise in the stadium.”

Meanwhile, flanker Alasdair Strokosch is restored to the Gloucester line-up as Bryan Redpath's side return to domestic action at the Gardens.

The Scotland international had been absent with an ankle injury for several weeks until making his comeback last weekend at Wasps as a second half replacement.

Also returning to the back-row alongside Strokosch is Jake Boer who missed out last Sunday as he wasn't registered for European action.

Elsewhere, Redpath keeps faith with the majority of the side that started at Adams Park with Mike Tindall continuing to skipper the side.

The sides met, of course, just a few weeks ago in the final of the LV=Cup at Sixways when the Saints edged a thriller a fact not lost upon Gloucester's Head Coach, who is eager for an improvement from his team.

“Our ball retention on that day wasn't great but we proved we can compete against Northampton. We've got to get our heads around going up there with nothing to lose,” he said.

Redpath also knows where his side have to improve on from last weekend: “We had a lot of possession, a lot of territory. We didn't defend a huge amount. But we missed eight tackles in the game and four led to tries. It's pretty easy.”

And, on his old friend, team-mate and coach, Jim Mallinder?

“I've massive respect for him, always have, as someone I played with and was coached by,” he said.

“I'm delighted he's done well but of course I would like to beat him this weekend. He knows that.”

Form: Northampton have won their last three encounters with Gloucester, including a 27-14 victory in the Premiership at Kingsholm on 19 September and a 30-24 win in the final of the LV= Cup at Worcester on 21 March. Saints' only defeat in their last eleven encounters in the Guinness Premiership was 6-13 at Harlequins on 20 February. The Saints have won their last dozen home games in the Premiership since Newcastle were victorious, 19-13, at Franklin's Gardens on 28 February 2009. Gloucester's last seven games in the Guinness Premiership have all been won by the home side on the day. Gloucester have been victorious in just one of their last 15 Premiership away games: 26-10 at Leeds on 4 October. Saints have not achieved a Premiership double over Gloucester since season 2000/01.

The teams:

Northampton: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Jon Clarke, 12 James Downey, 11 Bruce Reihana, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Lee Dickson, 8 Roger Wilson, 7 Phil Dowson, 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Juandre Kruger, 4 Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Dylan Hartley (capt), 1 Soane Tonga'uiha.
Replacements: 16 Brett Sharman, 17 Regardt Dreyer, 18 Brian Mujati, 19 Mark Easter, 20 Neil Best, 21 Alan Dickens, 22 Shane Geraghty, 23 Joe Ansbro.

Gloucester: 15 Freddie Burns, 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 Jonny May, 12 Mike Tindall (capt), 11 James Simpson-Daniel, 10 Nicky Robinson, 9 Rory Lawson, 8 Adam Eustace, 7 Jake Boer, 6 Alasdair Strokosch, 5 Alex Brown, 4 Dave Attwood, 3 Paul Doran-Jones, 2 Olivier Azam, 1 Nick Wood.
Replacements: 16 Scott Lawson, 17 Alasdair Dickinson, 18 Pierre Capdevielle, 19 Will James, 20 Peter Buxton, 21 Jordi Pasqualin, 22 Olly Morgan.

Date: Saturday, April 17
Kick-off: 15:00 BST
Venue: Franklin's Gardens
Referee: Andrew Small