The simple act of turning on the television or picking up a newspaper is enough to fill Exeter supporters with dread right now but the bad news just keeps on coming for Rob Baxter’s men.

This latest setback marked their eighth straight Premiership defeat, and 10th consecutive loss in major competitions this season, which was depressing enough for the Devon outfit.

But the sight of their England winger Immanuel Feyi-Waboso being forced off in the first half with a painful shoulder injury merely added to the doom and gloom engulfing the Chiefs.

“Initially, it looked like Manny’s shoulder popped out but then went back in pretty quickly,” said an increasingly beleaguered Baxter.

“He’ll be having scans and an assessment as soon as we get back to Exeter.

“There was nothing untoward – he just landed awkwardly.”

Credit to Sale, of course, who showed once again why they are so formidable on home soil by grinding out a deserved bonus-point win in filthy conditions on the outskirts of Salford.

Alex Sanderson’s men have won every game they have played in front of their own supporters this term and delightful first-half tries from centre Luke James and full-back Joe Carpenter laid the platform for victory.

After the interval, a penalty try and Jonny Hills’ effort confirmed a five-point haul for the hosts.

England fly-half George Ford revelled in the driving wind and rain as his right boot guided Sale expertly around the park.

He outshone opposite number Henry Slade and Sanderson said: “George is just a genius and, when the weather is so bad, it’s just about putting the ball back in your opponents’ half.

“It’s about repeat pressure to maul and pick-and-go because this was one of those days when you have to do the hard yards.

“George will always take the smarter option – the low-risk, high-percentage play, particularly on a night like tonight.

“He was like a strategic rugby god out there. He was fantastic.”

Exeter arrived still reeling from a 64-21 home humbling at the hands of Toulouse in the Champions Cup six days earlier.

The French outfit’s multi-national Galacticos, inspired by Antoine Dupont, had the freedom of Sandy Park as they ran in 10 tries past Baxter’s stunned side last Sunday evening.

The horrible mismatch followed their opening European 39-21 defeat away to the Sharks and, with a home clash against Bordeaux to come next on Jan 11, the 2020 European champions look destined for a pool-stage exit.

Perhaps that would not necessarily be such a bad thing as they seek to arrest their dreadful Premiership form and move away from potential relegation danger.

Rock-bottom of the table, and with confidence draining with every defeat, Baxter’s men surely have to stop the rot at some point.

Yet Sale, while often flaky on their travels, are formidable on home soil and showed that once again here in driving wind and rain.

At the end of October, Baxter sacked his defence coach Omar Mouneimne in the wake of Exeter’s worst-ever start to a Premiership season.

The South African was succeeded by Haydn Thomas but Exeter have continued to ship tries at an alarming rate of knots.

Yet there was a renewed sense of purpose about the start they made against Sale, initially at least.

Henry Slade, again starting at No 10 alongside Stu Townsend, kicked an early penalty to put the visitors ahead in the seventh minute.

Sale, with England scrum-half Raffi Quirke making his first Premiership start of the season, steadied themselves and began to probe inside Exeter territory.

Aided by their visitors’ concession of six penalties inside the opening quarter, Sale finally got off the mark in the 22nd minute with the game’s first try through James.

It stemmed from neat approach play by Quirke and captain Ben Curry before Rob du Preez’s delightful flick-on pass found James inside Exeter’s 22-metre line.

With a combination of clever footwork and natural speed, the home-grown centre backed himself to drive through the heart of an undermanned Exeter defence to cross the line.

It was a fine individual score and Rob du Preez applied the conversion to make it 7-3 and send self-belief coursing through the veins of Sanderson’s team.

Feyi-Waboso was then hurt in a tackle in midfield and was forced off in the 34th minute before Sale scored their second try in exhilarating fashion as half-time approached.

A loose Sale pass was gratefully scooped up by Carpenter inside his own half and the highly-regarded full-back, who went on England’s summer tour but did not earn a cap, galloped down the left channel.

Carpenter had winger Arron Reed outside of him but he backed himself and outstripped the Exeter defence, most notably Olly Woodburn, to cross the line himself.

It was another reminder to England head coach Steve Borthwick of Carpenter’s talent and, 10 minutes into the second half, Sale were awarded a penalty try which led to captain Dafydd Jenkins being shown a yellow card.

Exeter’s spirits never sagged, to their credit, and Jimmy Roots came off the bench to score but Hill claimed Sale’s fourth try to reaffirm their superiority.

Victory lifted the hosts to fourth in the Premiership and left them in fine spirits ahead of Friday’s trip to Bristol.

Sanderson added: “I’m happy with the five points. I’ve told the lads to enjoy Christmas and then get ready for Bristol.”

It should be some scrap.

Match details

Scoring sequence: Slade pen (0-3), James try (5-3), R du Preez con (7-3), Carpenter try (12-3), R du Preez con (14-3), penalty try (21-3), J Roots try (21-8), Slade con (21-10), Hill try (26-10), R du Preez con (28-10).

Sale: J Carpenter (O’Flaherty 50); T Roebuck, R du Preez, L James, A Reed; G Ford, R Quirke (Warr 50); B Rodd (McIntyre 62), L Cowan-Dickie (McElroy 72), A Opoku-Fordjour (John 62), E van Rhyn, J Hill, JL du Preez, B Curry (Dugdale 62), D du Preez.

Exeter: T Wyatt; I Feyi-Waboso (J Hodge 34), B Hammersley (Haydon-Wood 33, Hammersley 41)), T Tua, O Woodburn; H Slade, S Townsend; S Sio (Blose 51), D Frost (J Innard 57), M Street (J Roots 50), D Jenkins, F Molina, E Roots, R Vintcent (Capstick 53), G Fisilau.

Yellow card: Jenkins, Vermeulen.

Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe.