And he's only too aware that Tony McGahan's men must raise their game if they're to make a winning start to their European adventures in Limerick this weekend.
But even if Northampton get the better of his side, O'Connell insists it is not time to push the panic button, despite failing to reach the quarter-finals last year.
"In the past we never sailed through a group," said O'Connell.
"We rarely, if ever from my recollection, sailed through a group. We always had bad defeats but we just had to make sure we rallied and we came back.
"There were ups and downs in every group stage and that's what we've got to realise this year, there's going to be ups and downs and it is a bit of a dogfight to get out of the pool, particularly when you are in a very strong pool like we are and you need to fight for every single point.
"That's what we will be doing this year."
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