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Northampton flanker Aaron Hinkley says there is currently a “dogfight” for places in the Saints pack.
The 23-year-old joined the club from Exeter and has appeared in half of their six Premiership games this season, plus two midweek cup fixtures.
He is competing for selection with the likes of skipper Lewis Ludlam, Juarno Augustus and Sam Graham.
“One week I’ll be dropped, the next week I’ll be starting,” Hinkley told BBC Radio Northampton.
“The four, five, six, seven, eight shirts at the moment are just a complete dogfight. It’s done on form, which is good.
“There’s a lot of healthy competition. I see myself trying to push the senior lads as hard as I can and as respectfully as I can, but showing I’m frustrated when I’m not getting picked.”
Hinkley, who played for England Under-18s and Under-20s, scored a try in Northampton’s 58-34 win over Saracens in the Premiership Rugby Cup, and sees himself as a specialist at recovering the ball at the breakdown.
“My aim is to be the best breakdown operator in the league,” he said.
“There’s some unbelievable breakdown operators, the Currys, Jack Willis, Ben Earl, but if I shoot as high as I can, I’ll hopefully be in and around it at the end of the season.”
Hinkley now has a new look, having shaved his head because of hair loss through alopecia.
“Hopefully it comes back,” he added. “They said it’s to do with stress. I’ve never had it before and this is quite big and quite rapid. But I’ve definitely been more stressed in the past.”
Saints are currently third in the table after beating Newcastle Falcons 32-21, having reached the play-offs last term, and are away to winless bottom club Bath on Saturday.
Lock Alex Coles, named in Eddie Jones’ England squad on Monday, said there was plenty of room for improvement, adding: “I don’t think we’ve got a great record at The Rec, so we need to be much better.
“As a forward pack we need to look at ourselves and ask ‘can we get more out of our mauls?’ ‘Can we get a bit more control out of the games as well as bringing that attacking flair that we do?’
“We demand really high standards of ourselves. We fell short in the semi-final last year and we’ve got really high ambitions – and that means you can’t rest on your laurels, you can’t be complacent.”
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