“For 30 minutes we did play well at Irish, but if you start the game as poorly as we did then you’ll always make things difficult for yourself," he said.

“You get paid to win games, and we didn’t do that because the first half performance wasn’t up to scratch. The mistakes were coming early in the play so we couldn’t get in to our moves, then we finally found our stride in the second half we scored two really good tries.

“We made 206 passes in the game, which is massive if you compare it with the Premiership average of less than 100. There were lots of good things to take from the game, but ultimately we got beat and we move on to Friday against a good Saracens side.”

Having gone unbeaten for four months at Kingston Park Fletcher’s men have had a tough time on the road, with the director of rugby at a loss as to why the venue should make such a difference.

“There’s no reason why the form home and away should be so drastically different, but it obviously is so it’s something we’re working on,” he said.

“You can make a number of excuses, like the travelling, sleeping in your own bed and having the fans shouting for you rather than against you, but ultimately they are professionals and these things shouldn’t matter.”

While Fletcher is without Mathew Tait and Toby Flood due to international commitments, a relatively short injury list means a host of players on the comeback trail.

“Matt Burke hurt his groin at London Irish and had to come off, so he is out this week but hopefully that won’t be too serious and he will be back shortly.

“Other than that the injury news is fairly positive, with Andy Perry making his comeback for the second team at Edinburgh on Wednesday after a fractured eye socket, while Phil Dowson is also making better-than-anticipated progress.

“He sees a consultant in the next couple of weeks and we look forward to having him available for selection later this season. He has had such an unfortunate run of two long injuries, the last of which came when he had just been invited to go and train with the senior England squad, but we know what quality he brings to the side and he remains an important part of our plans.

“Apart from Phil, Matt Burke and Andy Perry pretty much everyone is fit, and we are starting to have more players to choose from as we go in to what will be a big finish to the season.”

Looking to Friday’s opposition, Fletcher said of Saracens: “They are in the top half of the league on merit, and they are one of the form sides in the country.

“Under Alan Gaffney they have performed really well, and even though they have rested a few guys this week they are still a class side and we will have to be right on top of our game.”

Tickets for the match are still available by calling 0871 226 60 60, or popping to Kingston Park during office hours and on the night.