After falling to the reigning European Champions in Saracens last weekend, Saints must now regroup as they prepare to travel across the Channel to face the current Top 14 title holders Clermont Auvergne on Saturday.
Jim Mallinder was honest after the game, praising Saracens for their impressive performance and admitting that Saints were not accurate enough to take on the side that is unbeaten in the competition over 19 games.
"It's very disappointing," Mallinder commented.
"We were second best. Saracens are a quality side, they've not lost in Europe for over two years and it showed why tonight.
"Saracens were just too good in every department. In the set piece we struggled to contain them, then they got two tries from driven line outs. They were getting over the gain line too easily, we were really struggling in defence.
"I think unfortunately once you get into the second half and you're already four or five tries down you start trying to do things you wouldn't normally do. That's what happened today and we ended up going backwards and conceding more points."
Mallinder said that Saints' focus must now turn completely to the challenge of Clermont next weekend, as the side rebuild ahead of their trip to the State Marcel Michelin.
"It's exciting," Mallinder said of the upcoming fixture.
"We were well beaten today by the current European champions, they've shown why they've won that title for two years running. But we need to regroup quickly, we need to come back in and rebuild and we need to look forward to an exciting challenge in going away to Clermont."
After their trip to Clermont, Saints return to Franklin's Gardens and the Aviva Premiership, where they currently sit in third place, to take on Wasps.
Tickets for that game are on sale now from £32 (adults) and £14 (under-16s) at bit.ly/SAI-WAS-201718
