Lamont came back to Franklin’s Gardens this week after completing his Six Nations duty with a try last weekend at the Stade de France.

But even though Saints lie bottom of the GUINNESS PREMIERSHIP he insists that there is still plenty of rugby to be played and that the season is far from over.

“We didn’t want to be bottom but we are,” he says. “We’re only one point off Worcester so there’s no point in pushing any panic buttons yet. We’ve got this game in hand, which is helpful because if we get a win then we can open up a bit of a gap.

“There’s 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’s what we’ve got to do. We’ve just got to target this weekend and then think about the other games later.”

Lamont’s inclusion on the right wing allows Saints’ captain Bruce Reihana to return to his more familiar position of full-back. Vaughan Going drops to the bench for the trip to one of his old stomping grounds – the Memorial Stadium.

In the pack Darren Fox and Ben Lewitt have swapped places between the bench and starting 15. And there is a place in the squad for French international David Gerard who comes onto the bench.

NORTHAMPTON SAINTS SIDE TO PLAY BRISTOL (internationals in CAPS)
GUINNESS PREMIERSHIP Round 13 (postponed); Memorial Stadium; March 25, 2007
15 BRUCE REIHANA (capt)
14 SEAN LAMONT
13 CARLOS SPENCER
12 Robbie Kydd
11 BEN COHEN
10 Stephen Myler
9 MARK ROBINSON
1 TOM SMITH
2 Dylan Hartley
3 John Brooks
4 Damien Browne
5 Christian Short
6 PAUL TUPAI
7 Darren Fox
8 CHRISTIAN LABIT

Replacements
16 MATIAS CORTESE
17 SOANE TONGA’UHIA
18 DAVID GERARD
19 Ben Lewitt
20 Mark Hopley
21 Johnny Howard
22 Vaughan Going