Ollie Hoskins knows the next two London Irish fixtures will play a big part in the outcome of the Exiles’ 2020/21 season.

Irish travel to fifth placed Northampton Saints on Friday night, before hosting Harlequins, currently sitting in fourth spot, at the Brentford Community Stadium next weekend.

“We’re well aware of how important these next couple of games are” said Hoskins.

“We’ve got aspirations to move up the table, and for the next two weeks, we’ve got two teams that are in the two spots directly above us in the table.

“The table is so tight – these games are key for us to achieve what we want to this season.

“It’s high-stakes, but we’re no strangers to playing in pressure-fuelled games.”

Despite falling out of Europe last weekend, Hoskins was in upbeat mood as he looked ahead to the trip to Franklin’s Gardens on Friday evening, commenting: “We’re ready to go.

“We know we were below our standards last week, but that’s in the past now and we’re fully focused on Saints.

“We had the weekend off to reflect, lick our wounds and look at what went wrong, but we’ve moved on and the boys are only looking forward now.

“Saints have been in good form recently – and it’s a formidable task for us on Friday night, we know that. But it’s something we’re really excited for.

“It’s going to be a good contest, a good battle, and one we’re looking forward to.”

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