Tigers collapse at Saints a 'hard watch' - McKellar
Dan McKellar is in his first season as Leicester Tigers head coach
- Published
Head coach Dan McKellar said Leicester Tigers' capitulation in their heavy East Midlands derby defeat by Northampton was "a hard watch".
Tigers were a man down for half of the match, as Jasper Wiese and Jamie Shillcock both spent 10 minutes in the sin-bin either side of the break before Solomone Kata was shown a red card on the hour mark.
Leicester got within a point of Saints before Kata's dismissal, which prompted a collapse as the hosts crossed for three unanswered tries in a 40-17 win that dented Tigers' hopes of a top-four finish.
"The second half just wasn't enough," McKellar told BBC Radio Leicester.
"It was a hard watch, we were chasing the game and turning the ball over and they are lethal off turnover ball.
"It's a derby game and this game means a lot to everyone, both clubs, and we were well beaten today."
Focus on Bristol, not play-offs
Defeat saw Tigers end the weekend eighth in the table and six points adrift of a play-off spot with three matches of the regular season remaining.
Leicester next host Bristol, who moved up to fourth with an emphatic 13-try 85-14 thrashing of winless Newcastle on Sunday.
"I'm not even really worried about play-offs, I'm just worried about performance," said McKellar.
"We are back home next week, have three games at least to go and we will focus on Bristol now."