It is fair to say that Dorian West takes the severity of Leicester Tigers' manpower problems with a pinch of the salt he was about to put on son Sam's chips after playing football.

"I've been reading Cockers saying they have been disrupted and are struggling to find 23 players," smiled West. "But they have an international front five, Ayerza, Davies, Castrogiovanni, Kay and Blaze.

"They have still got real quality that most clubs would be ecstatic to have.

"We are about eight or nine down and they are missing about 11 or 12 of their first group of 23 players. But they are still stronger in depth than us."

Which all points to West and Richard Cockerill, Tigers' head coach, having an interesting chat over a pint after tomorrow's Leicester-Northampton Guinness Premiership derby at Welford Road.

The pair were huge rivals for the Tigers hooker's shirt for years, West eventually winning the battle and going on to land a World Cup winners medal with England in 2003. Not bad for a player born in Wales, who started out as a flanker, and made his full international debut at the grand old age of 33.

Now they are rivals again, Cockerill as Tigers' top man, West as forwards coach with the Saints. And, despite the absence of a glut of players due to international calls and injury, tomorrow's game will not for the faint-hearted. After all, this is Tigers' only real derby following the fall of Coventry and Nottingham.

West feels Saints, climbing back to the top after a spell in the second tier, have closed the gap. "In think we have definitely improved over the last 12 months or so, and we are closer to Leicester than we were this time last year," he said.

Which is a bit of an understatement considering Northampton's recent Heineken Cup win at home to two-time champions Munster.

West says he was "pleased with the result", before admitting Saints were "over the moon" when it was suggested he was under-playing what may be a defining moment for the club.

"Our fans were happy, and we were chuffed with the result" he said. "But we then went to Perpignan on a high and got beat.

"Our form at home has been good for the past couple of years but the test is winning consistently against those sort of teams, which over the last 10 years Leicester have done.

"We have closed the gap, but we don't like to get carried away. We will have to play well tomorrow."

Tigers' former boss Dean Richards claimed Saints were Leicester's biggest rivals towards the end of his tenure, despite their massive annual bust-ups with Wasps.

West, however, is not sure the derby is what it used to be. "I think it's a big game for the fans, and it's a game we will be up for and will be trying our best. I always loved playing there.

"But week in week out you are playing against good teams and they are all big matches."

He says analysing Leicester has been a hoot. "Watching Lewis Moody run around like he always has done makes me laugh," said West. "He is amazing, full on still. No wonder he's injured half the season."

And Leicester? "They are probably not at their best but they dig out results like they always have done."

Tomorrow will be only his second time back at Welford Road with the first team since his retirement. And Leicester will know when he's arrived due to the greeting – "Afternoon chief". Everyone is chief to West.

You wonder if it felt weird last year, going into the visitors' changing room.

"I suppose it was a bit," he said after a pause. "It's weird walking past (groundsman) Steve's room. All the years we spent in there talking! That's next to the physio's room where I spent most of my time!

"I spent the majority of my career there, I know a lot of people and I've still got mates there. It's a bit strange but you move on, it's a professional world."

Saints have won three of the last four clashes in all competitions, but West will be desperate for a different result than on his first visit last year, a 29-19 defeat.

"We were winning with a few minutes left and Carlos Spencer threw an interception which cost us," said West.

"We didn't even get a bonus point. It was disappointing to lose."

West's boss is Jim Mallinder, the former Sale man who Richards wanted to recruit as Tigers' backs coach before his demise.

"I think Leicester tried to get him a few times," said West. "I can only say good things about him.

"He is a top coach, a top quality manager. Leicester probably missed a trick there."

With that he was off to the chip shop. "He'll put that in the paper Sammy," he said to his son before driving off. He was right.