Aviva Premiership: Beware wounded pride

Although the clubs are only separated by four points and two places - Saracens lie third and Irish fifth - it does not reveal the full picture.

Irish are currently on one of the worst losing runs by any team in recent Premiership history, suffering nine successive defeats.

Five of those reversals came in league action - against Wasps, Northampton, Leicester, Harlequins and Bath - plus four Heineken Cup and LV= Cup setbacks, with the combined effect piling pressure on head coach Toby Booth and his players.

Irish last won a game of any description on 31 October, and while Saracens lost at Sale Sharks last time out, they will start as firm favourites to consolidate their title play-off position.

But Saracens hooker Schalk Brits said: "London Irish are a dangerous side, they are capable of ripping apart any team on any given day.

"I think they have been very unlucky in recent weeks, but our focus is solely on our own performance.

"We got beaten badly in the first half by Sale last week and we need to ensure that we remain focused on improving our set-piece and putting our structures into place."

Saracens have the added motivation of giving Brendan Venter a winning send off from his job as rugby director.

Venter, who is returning home to South Africa, will retain a role with the club as technical director, although day-to-day management becomes Irishman Mark McCall's territory from next week.

But Venter knows his team will need a vastly-improved performance from the one that saw them suffer a 28-22 setback at Sale's hands.

Venter said: "We were very disappointed with the result against Sale. Despite expecting a frantic and physical match, we just didn't deal with it. But we have talked about that this week and I am sure those lessons have been learned. We are looking ahead to what should be an excellent game between two very good teams.

"London Irish haven't had the results they would have liked in recent weeks, but they have a squad full of quality players and a very good coaching staff, so we are expecting a tough battle."

Wales international Gavin Henson, who featured at outside centre against Sale, drops to the bench this weekend, with Michael Tagicakibau partnering Brad Barritt in midfield and England international David Strettle returning on the wing.

There are starts up front for prop Carlos Nieto and Scotland No.8 Kelly Brown.

Booth also makes changes as Irish strive to start turning things around. Dan Bowden is switched from centre to fly-half, replacing Chris Malone, who wears the No.15 shirt instead of Delon Armitage.

Armitage is rested under England elite squad requirements, with centre Seilala Mapusua in for Elvis Seveali'i.

Booth said: "Last week we made massive strides [against Bath], scoring three great tries in a very committed performance.

"The squad remains extremely focused and are determined to get back to winning ways."