Leicester Tigers aim to improve despite autumn internationals absentees, says Steve Borthwick
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Steve Borthwick's Leicester ran in six tries in beating Northampton last weekend
Head coach Steve Borthwick will not be distracted by having nine Leicester Tigers players away on international duty for the next three weeks.
The Tigers have made their best start to a Premiership season since 1987 by winning seven games out of seven.
They are eight points clear of Saracens at the top of the table before a home match against Bath on Friday.
"The situation is what it is. We will deal with it and adapt accordingly," Borthwick told BBC Radio Leicester.
"I'm not going to talk about players that we do not have available, or the number of players we do not have available. I'm just going to concentrate on preparing the team as well as I possibly can."
Among the 11 Leicester players initially picked for the autumn internationals were England quintet Ellis Genge, Ben Youngs, George Martin, Freddie Steward and uncapped hooker Nic Dolly.
Dolly's selection by head coach Eddie Jones and Julian Montoya's involvement with Argentina had left the Tigers short of options in the centre of the front row, with Charlie Clare injured and Tom Youngs unavailable.
But Dolly and back rower Martin were both released on Tuesday afternoon as Jones cut his squad to 28 players and should now be available for selection against Bath.
Despite Leicester's 100% record, Borthwick insists there is scope for improvement by his team.
"There's plenty of things we've got to improve on. We conceded four tries at the weekend and that is very disappointing," the 42-year-old said.
"We gave away two yellow cards, which is unacceptable, and that gave Northampton an opportunity [to get back] into the game.
"That has been addressed with the team and we aim to be better this week, and that's also looking at how we improve as a coaching team to get the improvements on the field that we need."
He added: "Win, lose or draw, the supporters are what drives Leicester Tigers. They want a team they can be proud of and they understand the position this team was in just a very, very short time ago, and that we need time and a lot of work to get us where we want to be.
"We're not always going to win games. But if we lose a game and the players play well and we're beaten by a better team, I will say thank you to the players for their immense effort."
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