Saracens Assistant Coach Kelly Brown is aware of the challenge that Northampton Saints bring as his side prepare to get to grips with the Premiership Rugby Cup.

Saracens, who welcome Saints to the StoneX Stadium on Saturday, are coming off back-to-back wins over top of the table Leicester Tigers and strugglers Newcastle Falcons in the Gallagher Premiership and are third in Pool 3 of the Premiership Rugby Cup.

Victory over Harlequins in Round 1, followed by defeat to London Irish leave Saracens needing a win to keep their qualification hopes alive.

Coach Kelly Brown has emphasised that his players are very motivated to reignite their Cup campaign on Saturday.

He said: “We have built some momentum in recent weeks and this is a great chance for these players to continue that.

"The Cup competitions are always something that we pride ourselves on and we know that Northampton present a big challenge for us, but one that we need to overcome to put ourselves back in contention for the latter stages.”

Eroni Mawi, Kapeli Pifeleti and Sam Wainwright, who all featured at Newcastle on Saturday, start in the front-row, with Theo McFarland and Callum Hunter-Hill pairing up in the second row.

After scoring the bonus point try against Newcastle, Rotimi Según keeps his spot on the left wing and Ben Harris starts on the right wing after his impressive performance in the last cup match against London Irish.

However, prop Mako Vunipola misses out after undergoing surgery on an ankle injury and he is set to return in the next 8-10 weeks.

For Northampton, full-back Tommy Freeman has returned from injury after being sidelined with a hamstring injury for the past two months.

Also, Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi is back for the first time since September 2020 as he returns from his lengthy achilles injury.

The sides last met in the Gallagher Premiership in January, with Saracens comfortably defeating the Saints 30-6.