NATHAN Catt hopes Bath’s battling win on the road at Northampton Saints last weekend means they have well and truly put the disappointment of last season to bed.

Bath finished the campaign ninth in the Aviva Premiership table last term and were beaten in 15 of their 28 matches in all competitions, tasting victory just four times on the road.

The West Country side were put through the wringer at Franklin’s Gardens last Saturday as Northampton fought back from 18-0 down in the final 10 minutes to 18-14 but Bath showed some spirited resolve to get over the winning line.

Prop Catt believes that type of close contest is exactly the kind of result that could well have slipped through Bath’s fingers in the previous campaign and hopes their new-found mental toughness bodes well for a return to past glories.

“We have come close up at Northampton in the last few years, only losing by a few points here and there, and it got a bit close towards the end too but thankfully we managed to hang on,” said Catt, ahead of Saturday’s first home fixture of the campaign against Newcastle Falcons.

“The boys had worked really hard up to that point so were pretty tired but you’ve just got to stay strong and make your tackles and don’t let things like what has happened in the past creep into the back of your mind.

“We didn’t win too many games on the road last year so that is maybe a game that would have just snuck away from us before.

“Northampton is a very hard place to go and we hadn’t won there for a good number of years – 16 I think – so it’s a very important result psychologically for us too.

“Now we have another tough match against Newcastle but we are all really looking forward to running back out on the pitch at the Rec.”