Booth has seen his team slip to fourth in the Premiership

London Irish head coach Toby Booth says there will not be a witch hunt as the Exiles look to end their eight-game losing run.

The Exiles' latest setback was a 28-18 loss at Harlequins on Monday.

Booth told BBC Berkshire: "This is not about pointing the finger. I'll always back my players and defend my players.

"Over the last three or four weeks we've made significant strides but those strides aren't big enough. We have to bring this run to an end."

After an impressive performance from inside centre Dan Bowden against Harlequins, there have been calls for the New Zealander to be moved to the pivotal fly-half position, but Booth dismissed the idea.

"Chris Malone was one of our best players on the pitch. It's not a question of re-arranging the deck-chairs on the Titanic as they say. It's about people's own performances," he said.

"There are a lot of people in front of him in the queue for disappointment than Chris Malone I can assure you.

"Dan Bowden played the whole of the Super 14 at centre for Crusaders so he's playing in his right position.

"Whether he can do the job in a different position, that's for us to have a look at. We wanted some leadership and Chris Malone has given us that.

"You have to deal in fact and not in emotion and often after games emotion clouds the real picture."

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