'A joy for the coaching group' as Saints select team for crucial Saracens fixture

The black, green and gold, who have not played since the defeat at London Irish on March 25, have an abundance of options for the clash with Saracens on Saturday.

Courtney Lawes has returned to full training, while the likes of Sam Matavesi and Alex Coles are also available having not featured against Irish.

And Dowson said: "It (team selection) has been tough.

"All the internationals are back in, fully rested and ready to go.

"We've got a few other guys back from injury so that's a joy for the coaching group to actually have some debate around it and try to pick the best group we can."

On Lawes, who has not played for Saints since January due to injury, Dowson said: "He's available for selection.

"It's been unbelievable for Courtney and it's hard to fathom because it's been a whole catalogue of different things (injuries).

"One of them happened when he was doing chin-ups in his home gym and it's bizarre. I can't remember the last time I saw Courtney do a chin up but it's one of those where everything's gone against him.

"But he's trained fully this week and we're conscious of making sure we get as much into him as possible without overdoing it.

"We're managing his load without putting him under undue stress."

Saints know they really need to beat Saracens on Saturday if they are to keep their hopes of a top-four finish alive in the Premiership this season.

Dowson's men currently sit three points behind London Irish with two games to go.

And Saints will hope a huge crowd can roar them to victory at the Gardens this weekend.

"It's a sell-out here, a crucial point in the season so I'm very excited about the opportunity," Dowson said.

"We've had some good performances here at home and the players are excited.

"There's been a good mood in the camp during the past couple of weeks coming off the back of a week off so we need to get a good performance out of ourselves.

"We know Saracens are a top quality side.

"I know they will be disappointed after that La Rochelle game (Saracens lost 24-10 in the Heineken Champions Cup quarter-final last weekend) but you see from the past couple of years how good they've been, how consistent they are throughout the squad, how much quality they have in all sorts of different positions.

"They're playing a lot more rugby now, they make great decisions at the back around when to counter or when to knock the ball back and play some territory.

"They're a handful and we've got to make sure we're at our very best."

Saints actually finish their regular-season campaign before London Irish play again as the black, green and gold host Saracens and then travel to Newcastle Falcons six days later.

"It's about what we can control," Dowson said.

"We've got Newcastle the following week but we're focusing our entire effort and energy on Saracens.

"We can only do what we can do and then wait for everything else to happen."

Saints have lost just one league game at home this season, suffering a defeat to Leicester Tigers back in September.

And Dowson said: "We've done well.

"We've lost once in the league and the two European performances, against Munster and La Rochelle, in different ways were positive, although we didn't get the results we wanted.

"In the second half against Munster, we produced a lot of pressure but couldn't convert.

"Against La Rochelle, we were right in the mixer until we got a red card.

"At home we've been good, away from home we've been poor so that's pretty much the story of the season so far."