Saints boss Jim Mallinder admits his team would love to be playing this weekend as they aim to banish their derby-day demons.
Mallinder’s men were beaten 36-8 by Leicester Tigers at Franklin’s Gardens last weekend, conceding four tries during a torrid second half.
They must now wait until a week on Sunday, at London Welsh, to get it out of their system as this weekend is dominated by European rugby.
Saints were eliminated at the Heineken Cup pool stages and were unable to do enough to make the Amlin Challenge Cup.
And Mallinder admits he would much prefer his side to be playing this weekend, rather than waiting more than two weeks to overcome their Tigers mauling.
“Yes, we would like to play this week,” he said. “It’s a shame we’re going to have another week’s break but the lads will come into training, we’ll keep working hard and we’ve got to really push now for the end of the season.”