“We have had more consistency in selection and the team spirit is fantastic, so there is a real togetherness at the moment which hopefully we can build on.

“Guys are getting used to playing alongside one another, and there is a real expectation and confidence that we will perform well when we take the field.”

Sorenson reserved special mention for second row cohort and unsung hero Jason Oakes, the summer signing from Otley who has proved a mainstay of Newcastle’s play in the tight.

“Oakesy is a bit of an unheralded character I think, but not within the squad itself,” said Sorenson, one of four autumn recruits to have bolstered the Kingston Park pack.

“He brings the passion and drive of a local man, as well as a real no-nonsense head-down sort of attitude. With it being his first season at this level he is very keen to learn, always listens intently, asks a lot of questions and then takes it on board very quickly.

“He also provides a handy translation service between myself and the Geordie people, so I’m gradually becoming fluent with his and Micky Ward’s help as my personal language coach!”

Having seemingly turned round their form in the forwards, Sorenson explained: “There seems to be a firm realisation that the hard work simply has to be done, that talking about it isn’t enough.

“That sounds like a strange thing to say, because of course the hard yards have to be put in whatever the game, but now that we have set the benchmark in the last two games we have to make sure we put the same effort in and really drive the team forward.

“Our pack has taken a fair bit of stick from various quarters down the years, and Newcastle has become known as a backs-oriented team. Yes we do have a lot of quality in the backs, but we also believe we are making progress upfront and we’re determined to command respect from people. The key is to keep the excitement and hunger that is around at the moment, stay positive and believe we can do it.”

Despite coming in to Saturday’s game on the back of a 37-11 thumping of London Wasps, Falcons director of rugby John Fletcher refused to get too carried away, insisting there is plenty more still come from his troops.

“Fletch has been bang on the money in not getting too excited about the Wasps game, because there was still a lot we could have done better,” said Sorenson.

“Some of our tries did fall in to our lap a bit, but having said that we were the dominant side and felt we deserved the overall result. Wasps did turn over a lot of ball, but we applied pressure to them and forced some of those mistakes, so while we do have a lot still to learn from the match there was plenty of good to take out of it.”

Sorenson also made special mention of the Kingston Park faithful, who have stuck by the Falcons in numbers both at home and on the road.

“The crowd were very passionate and gave us a big lift at vital times, so as a squad we have to thank them for that backing,” he said.

“They have been phenomenal at home and the away support has been great as well. You have to take your hats off to them because they cover a heck of a lot of miles to watch us play, and I’ve been really taken with the level of support we get each week.”

With the Wasps success fresh in the mind, Sorenson believes lessons from that game can be applied for the Madejski mission.

“It’s quite good to play London Irish the week after the Wasps game because they defend in a very similar way to each other, with the out-to-in blitz, so it gives us the opportunity for continuity which we don’t always get.

“The coaches have managed us really well during the week and we’re all extremely fresh.”

While the same pack takes the field this week there are a number of changes behind the scrum as England trio Mathew Tait, Toby Flood and Jonny Wilkinson all slot in, but Sorenson believes there are points to prove for the international stars.

“The England boys have come back in to the side, but in a way the pressure is all on them because they’ve taken the place of guys who were part of a winning back line last weekend,” he said.

“That in itself will be a big incentive for them, and it’s always nice to be in a position where you have quality players gunning for selection every week.

“What we do know is that if we can provide good ball for them we have all the weapons to score a lot of points, so the onus is on a good team performance and hopefully an away win.”