James Grayson says he is able to compete with Fin Smith to be Northampton’s first-choice fly-half following a prolonged harm lay-off.
The 24-year-old just lately returned to motion after struggling a stress fracture in his foot final October.
Saturday’s win over Gloucester was his first Premiership begin since then.
“It has been a protracted 12 or 13 weeks feeling like I’ve not been in a position to contribute to the workforce,” Grayson informed BBC Radio Northampton.
“Stress fracture, it is one which I had after I was youthful and it is come again – my physique mainly could not heal itself once more, so I needed to go beneath the knife and get a little bit of metalwork put in.
“Unavoidable, it is a type of issues within the recreation, they crop up each from time to time. Fingers crossed, will probably be my final one.”
Grayson contributed 11 factors to the 41-34 victory over the Cherry and Whites, which stored Saints third within the desk as they appear to match final season’s run to the play-offs.
“Fin’s finished nicely, it is a type of issues, Biggs goes [Dan Biggar] and also you suppose ‘hopefully I will get a bit extra recreation time’ after which Worcester and Wasps go kaput and Fin, who was going to return subsequent yr, comes early and I get injured,” he mentioned.
“He is taken his alternative properly, he is kicked the ball nicely and been a part of a few good wins and I am trying ahead to competing with him over the subsequent couple of years.
“We’re each younger so we have got loads of rugby forward of us and hopefully we are able to each be going at it and making the workforce higher.”
Saints have 5 regular-season video games left to cement their place within the high 4 and can subsequent pit their brand of entertaining rugby in opposition to Bristol on Friday.
Their recreation at Franklin’s Gardens in October – Grayson’s final earlier than his lay-off – completed 45-31 to Northampton, and it could possibly be one other high-scoring contest at Ashton Gate.
“It is a robust place to go,” mentioned Grayson.
“They play a cool model of rugby, they chuck it round a bit they usually’ve received some actually good gamers.
“You possibly can’t actually blink. They could possibly be on their five-metre line, trying like they will kick the ball again to you and unexpectedly one in all their superstars has picked up by a breakdown they usually’re off – they’re robust workforce to cease once they try this.
“It is about being 100% within the recreation, concentrating for the total 80 minutes and simply being ready for every thing.”