Jonathan Mills has issued a Kassam Stadium rallying cry ahead of London Welsh’s clash with Northampton Saints on Sunday, with the Exiles captain calling for the Kassam crowd to become the club’s 16th man as they battle to stay in the Aviva Premiership.

The Exiles return to action at the Kassam after a two month absence which saw the Exiles take a solitary bonus point from four away matches on the bounce to leave them eight points adrift at the foot of the table with just three games to go.

“The boys are really excited about going back to the Kassam – it’s been a while,” said Mills. “We’ve got three cup finals between now and the end of the season and it starts on Sunday against Northampton.

“They’re pushing for a top four finish and coming off the back of a defeat to Leicester they’re going to be really up for it, so we need as much support as we can possibly get at the Kassam on Sunday and for the crowd to be our 16th man out there.”

The challenge before Welsh may be huge, but as the players showed against Gloucester and Bath, they certainly haven’t resigned themselves to Championship rugby next season.

The Exiles had to be content with a losing bonus point at Kingsholm despite leading 14-6 and scoring the game’s only try, while three times they fought back at the Rec only to have the match taken away from them in the last five minutes.

“We’re fighting for our livelihoods and to keep the club in the Premiership - we’re certainly not giving up. Obviously the ball is in Sale’s court, but we’ve got to take care of our own side of things,” said Mills.

“Fair play to Sale they’ve picked their season up, but we’re still fighting. It’s not about where you are now in the table it’s about where you are after 22 games. We got three games left and we’ll be giving everything to win them all.

“Although we’ve been struggling for wins recently we’ve been playing some of our best rugby of the season, and we still believe we can do it. We’ve no intention of giving up.”

However, if Sunday is to be the spark that triggers what would be one of the all-time great escape acts, Mills believes the Kassam Stadium crowd will have to play its part.

“After four games on the road we know how big a role home support can play – we really need our supporters at the Kassam to get behind on Sunday and cheer us on to victory,” added Mills.

“We’ve had some really exciting games at the Kassam this season, where the result could have gone either way, right up until the final whistle. No matter who we’ve played, we’ve been competitive and provided entertainment all through the season.

“If we can get a win on Sunday and then go to London Irish and also get a win, then hopefully we can go into the Worcester game still fighting to stay in the Premiership with a massive crowd behind us at the Kassam on May 4.”