Northampton "have" to recover from European final defeat

Northampton's director of rugby Jim Mallinder has confessed that he may never get over his side's Heineken Cup final loss to Leinster last season.

However, ahead of his side's quest to emerge victorious in Europe once again, Mallinder has insisted that his squad must move on from the disappointment at the Millennium Stadium.

"We will probably never quite get over it," he told Sky Sports News. "It was tremendous for us to get through to the final. We had a real good run to qualify and then had a fantastic first half to go in there beyond our expectations at half time.

"It's hard to get over, but we have to. You have to move on and we will try and win it this time."

First up for the Saints in this year's competition is a trip to Thomond Park to take on Munster.

Earlier today it was announced that the 2012 final will be at Twickenham.