Saturday 9 February 2013 16:44, UK
Northampton director of rugby Jim Mallinder concedes his side are now outsiders to reach the Aviva Premiership play-offs this season after defeat to rivals Gloucester.
Northampton lost Ben Foden in the build-up to the game, when after playing 10 games in a row after an operation on an ankle injury he was ruled out by the England medics. Mallinder added: "We have got six of our pack missing and it is a disappointing to lose Ben Foden, but we don't use that as an excuse, it is about the squad and the other lads have got to step up. "Ben is not that far off. He is not 100 percent, but we would have quite liked him to play - he is a key player for us. "England and their medical staff advised that he didn't play this week. I am very hopeful he will be back next week. He has been training on lots of different surfaces in terms of the icy, snowy, wet conditions and that has probably not helped his comeback."