Winner takes all, says Falcons boss

The 22-year-old returns after missing the past four games having injured his ankle in the act of scoring against Sale Sharks - his fifth league try in just eight starts after switching codes last summer.

He joins a Falcons side showing just two other changes from the one which travelled to London Wasps last weekend, both coming in the front row as David Wilson and Matt Thompson replace Micky Ward and Rob Vickers respectively.

Director of rugby Steve Bates said going in to the match: "We've been telling the players this week what cup rugby is all about, which is really attacking the game with a winner-takes-all mentality in a way perhaps that you would not always do in the league.

"In the Premiership you're maybe thinking about being more cagey, protecting your bonus point and building a base from there, but in the cup none of that matters. We're going in with the view that we can win this competition, and to do that then obviously we need to clear Saracens as the first hurdle."

Explaining his side's motivation, Bates said: "People keep talking about securing a European place for next season, but for me there is much more to it than simply achieving Heineken Cup rugby.

"The players want to win a trophy on the back of what they have been doing over the last three months, well all season really, because even when we were losing games we were still building our game towards what we have seen after the new year.

"It's a great opportunity for us as a team to get some silverware in our own right. That will be a real achievement and we will have to beat some good sides along the way, but for me the Heineken Cup side of things is of secondary importance to the main goal, which is for this team to win a trophy together."

Despite having recently beaten Saracens at Kingston Park, the Falcons fell badly last time out in Watford, with Bates stating: "Our league game down at Vicarage Road back in September is a massive motivating factor for us, but everyone is in a very positive frame of mind, and you can sometimes just sense when a team is really up for a game.

"Our guys are extremely keen to avenge the 40-odd points we shipped down there last time out, and that is a very useful tool when we come to motivating the players on matchday.

"The difference between then and now, I would say, is that we as a team look very unlikely to concede anywhere near that number of points defensively. Against a full-strength Leicester we only conceded ten, seven of those with the last play, and away at the champions last weekend we only let in 12. We are confident that our defence now will prevent a scoreline of that same 40-point magnitude, but having said that, we are also aware that Saracens have a lot of very good players capable of scoring.

"From Saracens' point of view their current group of players will want to leave a positive snapshot of this season by lifting a trophy, especially with a number of personnel changes in the summer, and we know we have to be wary of them.

"What they have got in their squad is a lot of experience and quality, and those players are at that level because they are real competitors. Guys like Chris Jack and Justin Marshall don't throw in the towel, they don't take the field just to wander about, because they are proud men. They don't like being beaten, regardless of where they will be playing their rugby next season, and I would imagine they are looking at the Challenge Cup in a similar manner to ourselves. They wil be saying it is an opportunity for this group of players, as a team, regardless of what's going on elsewhere in the club, to put their mark on something."

Despite a narrow 12-6 reverse last weekend at London Wasps, Bates believes his side has the spirit to bounce back, saying: "We should have beaten Wasps last week, we know that, and the boys were devastated afterwards because they realise they missed a chance.

"What I would add though is that their response since that game has been excellent, they haven't let it knock their confidence and we're going down to Saracens with the firm mindset that we will win this competition. We're not afraid to put it out there in those terms, let's go out and win the thing