A tough trip to Franklin’s Gardens awaits Harlequins this weekend but director of rugby John Kingston hopes his side can return to winning form.

It has been a challenging start to the season for Quins, narrowly losing to Leicester last week after coming out on top in a closely-fought round three battle with Wasps.

The side travels to Northampton on Saturday without the injured England pair of Mike Brown and Joe Marler.

Captain James Horwill and Chris Robshaw cannot play due to concussion and Kingston acknowledges that victory on the road could be a big ask.

“The trip to Franklin’s Gardens is always a challenging one and obviously our squad is stretched at the moment,” he said.

“That said, we put in an outstanding display against Wasps two weeks ago and we will be looking to replicate that on Saturday.”

Aaron Morris dons a Quins jersey for the first time this season to replace Brown, who will not need surgery for the ankle injury sustained in the match against Wasps.

Tim Visser also comes into the starting XV, replacing Charlie Walker, who is out with concussion along with Rob Buchanan.

Dave Ward takes over the captaincy and is joined in the pack by Kyle Sinckler, Charlie Matthews and Ben Glynn.

Saints’ first few fixtures have gone more smoothly, with three victories after a heavy defeat to Saracens on the opening weekend.

Jim Mallinder welcomes Teimana Harrison and Kieran Brookes into the starting line-up and Quins scrum-half Danny Care believes the director of rugby has his team on the right track.

“Saints are playing really well, especially at home, they’ve gone back to their traditional way of playing direct rugby and it’s working for them,” Care said.

“We know how tough it is to play at Franklin’s Gardens, it’s a great place to test yourself and the boys are looking forward to it.

“Hopefully we’ll get a good result this weekend and get some momentum for when we’re back at home against Sale on Friday night.”