Mike Ford accepts Bath defeat to Northampton Saints

Bath head coach Mike Ford has admitted that he has no complaints with his side's defeat to title rivals Northampton Saints in the Aviva Premiership.

Northampton stretched their lead to nine points at the top of the table on Saturday thanks to a 21-13 victory at the Recreation Ground.

Despite seeing his team come up short during the match, Ford concedes that the visitors were worthy winners in the end.

"They are a very experienced side, and their tactics were very good. They strangled the life out of us in the second half," he is quoted as saying by BBC Sport.

"In the second half, the basics let us down, but their basics were very good. I think it showed why they are the champions and why we probably didn't get into the top four last season."

Bath are back in action next Saturday when they make the trip to Exeter Chiefs in the league.