Ben Foden fighting spirit can help Northampton Saints march on in Heineken Cup One day I'll probably come a cropper, but this time it worked out. As soon as they said I was fit to play, I was banging on Jim [Mallinder, Northampton coach]"s door saying, "they say I'm fit to play, pick me."" Mallinder did just that, and so far Foden has had no reaction from the damaged joint. The first couple of games I could feel it; because of the scar tissue on the top of my foot there was some pain every time I kicked the ball. Luckily no one has kicked me there. When I was a kid if I had a bad knee I'd strap the other one. But touch wood, I've not needed to protect it and actually, because of the operation, it's stronger than it's ever been. His return at full-back gave the Saints an injection of momentum they required after a stuttering start to the season. Now they are in with a good chance of qualifying for the next stage of European competition. "It's an interesting one the Heineken Cup because you never know what's enough to get you through," he says of today's requirement. But what we do know is we need to get the fans back on our side a little bit, so we need to go to Glasgow and get those five points. Simple. Yeah, right. But even now people say you're not performing well, I'm like: hold on, we beat a very good Castres side, we beat Exeter at theirs which no one else has done, we beat Ulster and still we're written off as a team that's underachieving. Actually, keep saying that. We quite like being underdogs, I think we perform best when people have written us off and we can come in under the radar. So we'll back ourselves. Whatever happens this afternoon - indeed whatever happens during the Six Nations if he wins back his England place lost during his absence - there is one thing Foden knows for sure: he will not escape attention. The personable, friendly and photogenic full-back has become a focus of the paparazzi ever since he married Una Healy, the singer of the band The Saturdays. The Northamptonshire Telegraph, for instance, recently described the pair as the county's celebrity couple. "I'm not the celebrity, I'm the plus one in the relationship," he says. Listen, I can't complain. It's the life I've chosen to live by marrying a pop star. I know it opens me to accusations, but I'm pretty grounded. Besides, he adds, away from the rugby field he is not sure how often he is recognised. After all, the evening before his gym routine, he had been the mystery guest on Question of Sport. And one of the panellists failed to spot who he was, despite having known him since their shared childhood in Cheshire. "I went to primary school with Beth Tweddle," he says. And she didn't say a word. She didn't get me. I was watching going: come on Beth, it's me. I was a bit disappointed she didn't get me. He then smiles broadly, suggesting he has had worse setbacks in life. Watch Jim White work out with Ben Foden, who uses Multipower Sportsfood. www.multipower.co.uk