Dowson expects Saints to relish the challenge of facing 'revved up' Saracens

But the Saints boss expects his side to relish the challenge in what promises to be a 'huge' Gallagher PREM encounter.

Saracens will come into the match desperate for a response after being humbled 62-15 at Bath last Friday night.

Mark McCall immediately switched his focus to facing Saints, telling his players 'it's a really poor performance and we've got to deliver something better for our supporters next week now'.

So Dowson is well aware that Saracens will be 'revved up' this weekend.

"It's going to be huge," Dowson said.

"With the quality of the players they have, with the defeat at Bath spurring them on, with playing at Tottenham in their big game that they try to promote, they're going to want to come out all guns blazing.

"When you've got a group with those internationals, history and that cultural strength, it becomes a big challenge."

When asked if Saints could have done without Bath battering Saracens last weekend, Dowson smiled and said: "I didn't really want to see that because you know there will be a really strong response from proud people and good players.

"But that will be a good challenge for us. It's exciting to be in that stadium, it's exciting to be where we are in the league, it's exciting to have some of those players back from international duty and it's exciting to have Saracens revved up trying to get stuck in."

Saracens may have endured a difficult night in Bath, but Dowson knows just how much quality and experience this week’s opposition possess.

"They're very similar to in the past really," the Saints boss said.

"They've got lots and lots of really good individuals playing in a team that has a clear identity.

"They're second in the table for carry metres, they're top of the table for speed of breakdown, they play a lot, they've got the highest passes by forwards, they get the most kicks back so that gives them that transition.

"They've got standout ball carriers in (Tom) Willis, (Nick) Tompkins and Theo Dan.

"There's street smarts from the England captain (Maro Itoje) from a set piece point of view and you've got the competitive edge that Owen Farrell brings so that shouldn't be overlooked because that leadership and experience within their group is very good.

"Jamie George, Owen Farrell and Maro Itoje have won some games in their time and they've won some tournaments so they'll be plotting heavily to make sure they get a good performance."

Saints were far from at their best last Saturday as they edged past Newcastle Red Bulls 28-27 at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens.

"I said after the game, credit to Newcastle, and I'd say that again after watching the game back,” Dowson said.

“They managed to defend very well, their attacking shape has improved over the past six months with Alan Dickens and Stephen Jones.

“But we didn't necessarily get lots of things in our game quite right, we were quite clunky at times and we didn't get the breakdown quite right. Therefore it became a very close game.

“But I was tremendously proud of the fight and effort to stick in it.

“Even if we'd lost, I'd have been proud of the effort and the fight so it's not necessarily about the result, it's the performance. There's different elements to it. Technically and tactically we can be way better, individuals can be better within that, how we set the group up can be better but how hard we work for each other in all those different facets is what really sets us apart.”