The Saints top Pool 4 by a single point following last weekend's round of fixtures and therefore need a bonus point win to not just guarantee a place in the semi-finals but also a possible home tie.
And with the Saints still smarting from last Saturday's reverse at Bath Mallinder says that a step up will be needed against Wasps tomorrow, a team the Saints boss says deserves respect.
"It's a big game for us," he said. "We started the LV= Cup well with two bonus point wins and we need to keep that momentum. We need to win to get through and qualify for a semi-final. We don't want weeks off during the season; we want our holidays in the summer. That means we've got to win at the weekend, it's as simple as that.
"Wasps will be a difficult proposition. They may be out of the tournament but they've still got everything to play for in terms of getting on track in the league. They rested a number of players last week and I think they'll bring a strong side that will be very determined to get back to winning ways.
"They've got some good coaches who will motivate the side, so we can't be under-prepared. They will attack us in a number of ways and we've got to make sure we step up and that our defence improves a lot from last week.
"But it's also a good opportunity for us to get back onto winning ways after the past two weeks. We've got a number of players back in the side and everyone is very keen to put in a strong performance and get the win we all want."
Saturday's game is not being televised anywhere, so the only way you can experience the Saints live is by being at the Gardens in person! Tickets remain available - just CLICK HERE and follow the straightforward instructions.
And you can stay around and watch the five England Saints in action against Scotland on the high definition big screens in the various bars in the stadium as we show the Calcutta Cup live from Murrayfield!
NORTHAMPTON SAINTS TEAM TO PLAY LONDON WASPS
LV= Cup Round 4
Franklin's Gardens
Saturday, February 4th, 2012
Kick off 3:00pm
15 Paul DIGGIN
14 Jamie ELLIOTT
13 George PISI
12 James DOWNEY
11 Noah CATO
10 Stephen MYLER
9 Martin ROBERTS
1 Soane TONGA'UIHA
2 Andy LONG
3 Brian MUJATI
5 Christian DAY
6 Calum CLARK (capt)
7 Ben NUTLEY
8 Roger WILSON
Replacements
16 Mike HAYWOOD
17 Alex WALLER
18 Tom MERCEY
19 Mark SORENSON
20 Samu MANOA
21 Ryan GLYNN
22 Tom MAY
23 Vasily ARTEMYEV
