Some champagne rugby in attack produced five scores against Newcastle and a comfortable five-point win, but with the Falcons claiming a try bonus at the other end the victory was tinged with disappointment at the other end.
“We fell into the trap of switching off,” Dickson told Wednesday’s press conference. “We started really well but once we got a few points up we let them back in with a few soft scores.
“Defensively we weren’t very happy with letting four tries in. We pride ourselves on our defence and it wasn’t up to scratch.
“A couple came from mauls, which I’m sure the forwards won’t have been too pleased with and there were also a couple of system errors that cost us.
“We’ve been working hard on it this week though and focusing on staying in our systems. Against a tough Sale side we know we’ll have to be a lot better. It’s going to be a hell of a fight.”
Kick off in Salford is at 2pm on Saturday afternoon and with no TV coverage, you can follow at www.saintslive.co.uk.