2005 Lion Charlie Hodgson is desperate to get back to winning ways with his club side Sale Sharks.
The fly-half’s chances of making the 2009 Lions tour were dealt a blow when he was left of Martin Johnson’s England squad for the autumn internationals and Six Nations but the 28-year-old is now concentrating on winning silverware with his club.
Having missed out on a place in the Guinness Premiership semi-finals last season, Sale started the season brightly but have since lost six of their last eight games in all competitions, with four of those defeats coming at their Edgeley Park home.
"If you want to be successful in the Guinness Premiership then you have to win your home games," said Hodgson, who toured New Zealand with the Lions alongside fellow outside-halves Stephen Jones, Ronan O’Gara and Jonny Wilkinson three years ago.
"The way in which we lost our last outing against Worcester was hugely disappointing so it’s important we get back to winning ways at home. Not just for us but for the fans as well. Ultimately, they turn out to support us in the freezing cold, and the wind and the rain and they want to see us do well.
"We want to play well to get decent results and to try and make sure that we send the crowd home happy as well.”
The Sharks take on Heyneke Meyer’s Leicester Tigers on Friday evening knowing a bonus-point win would take them level on points with Bath at the top of the Premiership standings.
The Stockport-based outfit welcome back a number of their international stars as they look to build on their 13-12 win at Wasps last weekend.
"Given the run of defeats that we’d had and that a lot of our international boys were away, it was massive statement to say that we can compete with the likes of Wasps. Leicester are a point ahead of us, so a win on Friday would move us further up the table. We have the likes of Chabal, Lamont, Tait, Faure, Juan Lobbe and Dwayne Peel back on Friday night too.
"But we know it’s not going to be easy as Leicester have been playing well but we have to make sure that we match them and take our chances."
