Dan McKellar: Leicester Tigers 'weren't in must-win territory' but derby victory was needed
- Published
Ben Youngs made a record 28th appearance in the East Midlands derby on Saturday
Boss Dan McKellar said Leicester Tigers were not "in must-win territory" for their East Midlands derby, but admitted victory against Northampton was needed after a slow start to the season.
Leicester overcame Northampton for their first home Premiership win of the season on Saturday.
They had started the day second from bottom and 10 points adrift of Saints, after just one win in five matches.
"We just had to grind out a win," McKellar told BBC Radio Leicester.
"You need to win. And when one from five, we weren't happy with that.
"I don't think it was in must-win territory, but it's Tigers versus Saints in a derby game at Mattioli Woods Welford Road, you don't want to lose them regardless of where you are in the table," he added.
World Cup-winning South Africa fly-half Handre Pollard booted 16 points, while Francois van Wyk and Hanro Liebenberg grabbed crucial second-half tries as Tigers ended Saints' three-game winning run.
Victory came a week after Pollard joined a half-a-dozen Tigers team-mates in returning to club duties after the World Cup - with Pollard's Springboks team-mate Jasper Wiese, and England's Ben Youngs, Ollie Chessum and Freddie Steward all starting, while Dan Cole came off the bench.
'Chip away'
Asked if the derby victory, with a bolstered side of World Cup players, felt like a platform for Tigers to build on, McKellar said: "It certainly does.
"We go to Gloucester next week and it's another important game, another emotional game for both clubs with the Ed Slater Cup.
"I know the players will certainly get up for that on both teams. You just have to chip away and get your wins off the back of outstanding preparation over the course of the week."
McKellar spoke highly of the influence of Tigers' "world class" half-backs Youngs and Pollard, and the "powerful" impact Cole made off the bench in the second half, but with exhausting World Cup campaigns just behind them the Australian has the Tigers' ambitions and his stars' wellbeing to juggle.
In what is a shortened Premiership campaign compared to previous years - on account of three top-flight clubs going bust in the past year, reducing the competition to a 10-team league - Tigers find themselves eighth in the table with a third of the season already played.
"They had a week off immediately post-World Cup, so we will see," McKellar told BBC Sport.
"If your squad is healthy, then you have the ability to rotate and not disrupt too much. That will come. It's a long season - the finals are in the middle of June, so we can't expect the same guys to roll out week after week.
"We are in position where we are building cohesion within the group.
"We are not going to make mass changes from one week to the next, that is for sure.
"In certain positions, where we have incredible depth and quality, we will look to make those change. At 10 we have got Jamie Shillcock, Charlie Atkinson, Kieran Wilkinson, we have real depth in that position, so we will give Polly [Pollard] a spell at the right time."