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Gloucester enter the game fifth in the Premiership after ending Northampton Saints’ 17-match winning home run with a 25-17 victory at Franklin’s Gardens on Saturday<\/a>.<\/p>\n Skivington said number eight Mercer and wing Ollie Thorley are on crutches and will have scans on knee injuries sustained during that win<\/a>, but he has been impressed by the performances of his fringe players and expects to rotate his team in the Challenge Cup.<\/p>\n “They haven’t lost there in over a year, so to hold them out in the second half in the way that we did was great,” he said, having overseen redemption for a 90-0 defeat at Northampton in May<\/a>.<\/p>\n “We saw the best on both sides of the ball; we attacked really well in the first half and got really tested defensively in the second half. The character in collisions and the workrate was outstanding.<\/p>\n “We’d like a bit of balance – not one half attack, one half defend – but the good thing is we’ve shown our mettle and how much it means. You don’t fight that hard unless you’ve got a common cause and a really good group who are tight-knit.<\/p>\n “It gives us a good benchmark. We knew Saints was the ultimate test, to see if we could go there and match their game that was so impressive last season.<\/p>\n “It wasn’t the complete performance that we were shooting for, but there were lots of good signs there.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n