Northampton Saints director of rugby Jim Mallinder has praised his side for digging deep to earn a 33-33 draw at Gloucester Rugby.

The Aviva Premiership leaders needed a late conversion from Stephen Myler to earn a share of the spoils on Saturday following a tough afternoon at Kingsholm Stadium.

While he admits that his players struggled during the opening 40 minutes of the match, Mallinder is pleased by how they turned their fortunes around after the break.

"We showed what a good side we are in that second half. We talked about getting our balance right, and we played some good rugby," he is quoted as saying by BBC Sport.

"We got two cracking tries out wide from James Wilson, then to be able to go to the maul at the death and get that score just shows we have got threats all over the field.

"You can't come down to Kingsholm and play as we did in the first half. They are a proud team and it is a proud rugby city, and we made some fundamental mistakes in terms of our game-management."

Northampton are back in action next Saturday when they travel to Saracens in the LV= Cup.