Hodgson scored in Irish's last Premiership outing against Bristol

London Irish scrum-half Paul Hodgson says the defeat to Bourgoin will stand them in good stead in the Premiership.

Hodgson described the 32-30 defeat as the worst in his time at the club but says they are even more determined to succeed in the Premiership.

He told BBC Radio Berkshire: "What would be the point of going through a whole season without any silverware?

"We're in one tournament now and it's the Premiership. You can guarantee that as a team, we're going for it."

He added: "The team has progressed well but to have nothing to show for it would be very disappointing.

"There's been a lot of good talk about London Irish, but you need that silverware to back it up."

Hodgson said the whole squad were disappointed with their European Challenge Cup exit.

"It was a bad night for London Irish. As a squad and as a club we felt that we let down a lot of people - especially the fans.

"We had three days off over Easter and it didn't make those days off very pleasant to say the least."

Hodgson added they have a chance to rectify the defeat by ensuring a place in the Premiership play-offs in their two remaining fixtures at Northampton and Worcester.

"The senior players sat down with Toby Booth and Mike Catt on the Monday morning and Mike pointed out that you can learn the most from losses like that.

"We want two wins out of two and we're capable of doing it. Northampton are very, very good at home and have made Franklin's Gardens a fortress.

"We've had some good training sessions, we want to put a lot of things right after what happened on Thursday and it would be a great way of getting back on track."

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