Preview: Sale v Saracens

Sale Sharks Director of Rugby Kingsley Jones has named an unchanged starting line-up for Friday's home game against Saracens.

The re-arranged Guinness Premiership fixture comes on the back of a huge win over relegation rivals Worcester for the Stockport-based side.

But boss Jones is eager not to slip up and undo all of last week's hard work, which would leave them right back in the mix going into the run-in.

"We need a reality check after last week's win because if Leeds and Worcester win at the weekend and we don't, we will be back where we were a week ago," he said.

"We need to keep our fear of relegation, but if we repeat the attitude and desire we showed against Worcester we could enjoy the run in to the end of the season."

Selection has seen Jones with an unfamiliar feeling of being able to pick from an almost full-strength side, barring injuries to Andrew Sheridan and James Gaskell. The only changes to last week's 23 are on the bench where Carl Fearns and Dwayne Peel are in for Mahonri Schwalger and Chris Leck.

"We are going into the last four games at 100 per cent. I have used squad rotation this season but from here on in, every game is a MUST win game," he explained.

When asked about Saracens Kingsley said: "We must respect Saracens, they are a big tough side and it will be a big challenge for us.

"They have a good kicking game but, over the last couple of weeks, have broadened their game with a try fest against Newcastle and a narrow defeat at Gloucester."

Meanwhile, Saracens Director of Rugby Brendan Venter has named Derick Hougaard and Justin Marshall as the half-back pairing with Glen Jackson and Neil de Kock on the replacements bench this weekend.

The rest of the back-line remains unchanged from the side which lost by a point at Gloucester last weekend. In the forwards, Rhys Gill misses out with a pectoral muscle injury with Matias Aguero taking his place in the front-row.

Tom Ryder starts in the second row alongside Hugh Vyvyan while Justin Melck is given a run out on the blind side flank. Jacques Burger is named on the bench having missed part of training this week due to illness.

Kameli Ratuvou returns to action and is named on the replacements bench after missing the past two matches with the hand injury he picked up against Northampton Saints in the LV=Cup semi-final.

"With just four regular season matches remaining, we really are at the stage of the season where everything counts. Sale had a terrific win over Worcester Warriors last week and that would have really lifted them and we are expecting a very tough game," said Venter.

"But we have been playing some good rugby that has seen us score 10 tries in our last two games and although we were disappointed with the result at Gloucester, we were very pleased with the performance. But we know that we will need to be even better if we are to get the result we want on Friday night."

Form: The last seven encounters between the two teams have all been won by the home side on the day, whilst Saracens' only previous victory in seven previous visits to Edgeley Park was 15-9 on 10 March 2006. Sale have won two of their last three games in the Guinness Premiership, against London Wasps and Worcester. Saracens' only victory in their last six matches in all competitions was 58-15 at home to Newcastle Falcons on 28 March. Sarries have not won away from home in the Guinness Premiership since their trip to Bath on 31 October.

The teams:

Sale: 15 Marika Vakacegu, 14 Mark Cueto, 13 Mathew Tait, 12 Lee Thomas, 11 Ben Cohen, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Kristian Ormsby, 7 David Seymour, 6 Sisa Koyamaibole, 5 Dean Schofield, 4 Chris Jones, 3 Jack Forster, 2 Neil Briggs, 1 Eifion Roberts.
Replacements: 16 Marc Jones, 17 Gavin Kerr, 18 Rob O'Donnell, 19 Sean Cox, 20 Carl Fearns, 21 Dwayne Peel, 22 Jonny Kennedy, 23 Dafydd James.

Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Michael Tagicakibau, 13 Adam Powell, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Chris Wyles, 10 Derick Hougaard, 9 Justin Marshall, 8 Ernst Joubert (c), 7 Andy Saull, 6 Justin Melck, 5 Tom Ryder, 4 Hugh Vyvyan, 3 Petrus du Plessis, 2 Schalk Brits, 1 Matias Aguero.
Replacements: 16 Fabio Ongaro, 17 Kas Lealamanua, 18 Richard Skuse, 19 Mouritz Botha, 20 Jacques Burger, 21 Neil de Kock, 22 Glen Jackson, 23 Kameli Ratuvou.

Date: Friday, April 9
Kick-off: 19:45 BST
Venue: Edgeley Park
Referee: Tim Wigglesworth