Tait's side have lost four of their first five games in the Premiership

Newcastle Falcons head coach Alan Tait has dismissed claims that his players are under pressure after their mixed start to the Premiership season.

Falcons are second from bottom in the table with four defeats in five games, in Tait's first full season in charge at Kingston Park.

"I've not put any [team] goals down, I want them to improve as players and work on it," he told BBC Newcastle.

"I just want them to go out there and feel less pressure."

Europe provides a distraction for Falcons in the shape of French side Bourgoin in the European Challenge Cup on Thursday night.

"This is just another chance for 20-odd blokes to go out there and put a performance in that justifies wearing the Falcons jersey," Tait added.

The Falcons boss has fielded an experimental line-up for the competition but with a twist. Once the group stages are over, eliminated teams from the elite Heineken Cup pour into the knock-out stages, adding a tougher test for clubs outside the top six like Falcons.

"We found that out when we qualified and got Cardiff at home," Tait commented.

"It was a great draw for the club, Cardiff are a great side, but we saw how strong these squads are and club are.

"Where we are as a club at the moment, we said we want to get better and it will take time.

"God forbid if we had qualified for Europe this year with the side of the squads and then we'd have been playing Munster away or Perpignan away it would have been a bit messy with these youngsters.

"We're not there yet and we know we aren't but this is where we need to improve, because we've got to get these players ready for that challenge in a few years to come."

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