London Irish assistant coach Glenn Delaney says that his side left it too late to mount their comeback against Northampton Saints in the LV= Cup on Sunday.

The Exiles recovered after a poor first half but slumped to a 39-18 loss at the Madejski Stadium, having scored two tries in the second period after being 26-6 down at the break.

"It was a game of two halves and at half time we regrouped and set ourselves a target of winning the second half," Delaney told the media. "We had to put that first-half performance behind us and there was a whole-hearted effort after the interval.

"The breakaway try was the spark in the game and after that we just had to keep playing for the whole 80 minutes.

"We chipped away and got within striking distance with 25 minutes to go but we kept conceding penalties in vital areas, which did seem somewhat harsh at times."

London Irish travel to Leicester Tigers in the Aviva Premiership at the weekend.