Saints happy with underdog status

Already this season the Saints have marched into Allianz Park and come away with a 20-15 win and Mallinder is ready or his team to rise to the challenge once again as they aim to strip the English champions of their unbeaten record in Europe this season.

"We know we will go there as the underdogs and that nobody will give us a chance, but sometimes that's how we like it," Mallinder told EPCR Rugby.

"Saracens are an exciting side and they have all their international players back and playing well. They played really well at Bath last weekend, but we are looking forward to it - it won't daunt us going down there.

"This is a Saints team that enjoy challenges. They will have had an extra few days recovery time and they are one of the best side's in Europe at the moment."

Mallinder's men fluffed their lines in last weekend's dress-rehearsal at Wasps, going down 6-28, while Saracens were making it 20 wins in 25 games to date this season with their 30-10 triumph at The Recreation Ground.

"Out control wasn't where it needed to be and we forced one or two passes and got turned over. Wasps are brilliant on the counter attack, and we saw that, but we also saw signs of us playing well," said Mallinder in the wake of the Wasps game.

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