Saints not ready to hit panic button
His side host the Scarlets at the new Franklin's Gardens in a Round One match on Saturday.
Saints will go into the first two rounds of Europe languishing in 10th place in the Premiership – following last weekend's 6-12 home defeat by English champions Saracens.
On the day the new Barwell stand was in full use, it was not the kind of result that Mallinder had hoped his side would serve up to a record 15,169 crowd.
But the man who has steered the Saints to two European Challenge Cup wins and a European Cup Final is hoping a change of 'scenery' this weekend will give his team the chance to regroup and gather some much needed momentum for their season.
"We are disappointed to be in this position – we'd love to be flying and have won four out of four, but that doesn't always happen. But we are confident in the team and in the individuals," Mallinder said.
"We aren't playing as well as we want to or need to, but we will soon put that right and start winning some games. It's nice to have a change of competition this weekend and have something different to focus on
"Maybe that's what we need to get some momentum and put some confidence into the team. We can play well, we have seen that, and we are a good team that will do better."
While the Saints have been struggling to win this season, the Scarlets, who have twice won in Europe at Franklin's Gardens, were beaten for the first time in seven games in the Guinness Pro12 last weekend.
They were finally knocked off the top of the table by their 19-15 defeat in Dublin against Leinster last Friday.
Mallinder was able to keep a close eye on that game and knows exactly what sort of threat the Welsh side will bring with them to Northampton this weekend.
The last time the Scarlets came to Franklin's Gardens they won 28-23 in 2011.
"I watched the Scarlets play against Leinster last weekend and, even though they lost, they played really well. They have got their World Cup players back now and they are going to be a massive challenge," said Mallinder.
"But this weekend it is European rugby. We have got big players and we hope they can rise to the occasion."
Source: @ChampionsCup
