Last Saturday's home win over London Welsh moved the Saints back into the Aviva Premiership Rugby top four, just two points off top spot. With just six points separating the league's top eight teams director of rugby Jim Mallinder says that every win matters, but that things will not be easy against a motivated Sale team.
"Sale have been getting some disappointing results this season and we're expecting them to be very motivated for tomorrow's game, especially with the return of John Mitchell to the club," he said. "They have talented players who will no doubt be looking to prove a point, and after having won their last three home matches in all competitions they have developed a winning habit in Salford over the past month.
"We know we will have a big job on our hands, but all our focus this week has been on getting a good result on Friday night. This season the Aviva Premiership is more competitive than ever and every point matters. We have had two wins in the past two weeks and now we want to build on that tomorrow."
Friday's game is being shown exclusively live on ESPN, with coverage starting at 7:15pm. For more information about subscribing to the channel visit www.espn.co.uk/tv
NORTHAMPTON SAINTS TEAM TO PLAY SALE SHARKS
Aviva Premiership Rugby Round 10
Salford City Stadium
Friday, November 30th, 2012
Kick off 7:45pm
15 Ben FODEN
14 Ken PISI
13 George PISI
12 Dom WALDOUCK
11 Jamie ELLIOTT
10 Ryan LAMB
9 Martin ROBERTS
1 Soane TONGA'UIHA
2 Dylan HARTLEY (capt)
3 Brian MUJATI
4 Samu MANOA
5 Mark SORENSON
6 Calum CLARK
8 GJ VAN VELZE
Replacements
16 Mike HAYWOOD
17 Alex WALLER
18 Paul DORAN JONES
19 Rhys OAKLEY
20 Ben NUTLEY
21 Lee DICKSON
22 Stephen MYLER
23 Tom MAY
