Bath v Saracens: Teams

Bath coach Steve Meehan believes Saracens will be "very dangerous" when they arrive at The Rec despite their Heineken Cup exit.

Saracens bravely bowed out of the semi-finals of Europe's premier club competition when they slipped to an 18-16 defeat to Munster.

And although the Sarries squad were left hurting - physically and mentally - after the defeat, Meehan does not expect them to be suffering a cup hangover.

He said: "I expect some of their younger players to be involved and some of their players who weren't involved last week, who we know very well.

"So they will come out with fresh legs and I am sure they will want to impress. If they take that approach, and things click, they will be very dangerous - so it's a concern for us, we have to be on our game!"

Bath, who themselves secured a place in the final of the European Challenge Cup, have made just two changes to their line-up.

Joe Maddock returns on the wing in place of the benched Andrew Higgins, while No.8 Daniel Browne takes the place of Chris Goodman.

Determined

Stand-in Saracens captain Kevin Sorrell insists his side will bounce back from the Euro heartache by finishing the season on a winning note.

Sorrell, who takes over the captaincy with both Neil de Kock and Richard Hill missing the last away game of the campaign, said: "We are determined to end the season strongly and with two wins.

"Our league form has taken a dip in the past few months but it has still been a successful season in terms of our progress to make two semi-finals. The important thing is that we don't throw that away and finish the season on a strong note.

"It's always an honour to captain Saracens and I'll be stressing to the boys the importance of showing pride in the black jersey and in their own performance. I'll also be encouraging them to make sure they enjoy themselves, as we've played some of our best rugby this season when we've done that."

Ben Skirving, Hugh Vyvyan and Nick Lloyd are also missing for Sarries, however Moses Rauluni, Tom Ryder, Iain Fullarton and Kevin Yates all return to the starting XV.

Watford-born flanker Don Barrell has been asked to fill the boots of Richard Hill, while Cencus Johnston is preferred over Cobus Visagie at prop.

Bath: 15 Nick Abendanon, 14 Joe Maddock, 13 Alex Crockett, 12 Olly Barkley, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 Butch James, 9 Michael Claassens, 8 Daniel Browne, 7 Michael Lipman, 6 Jonny Faamatuainu, 5 Danny Grewcock, 4 Steve Borthwick (c) , 3 Matt Stevens, 2 Lee Mears, 1 David Barnes.
Replacements: 16 Pieter Dixon, 17 Duncan Bell, 18 Peter Short, 19 Zak Feaunati, 20 Nick Walshe, 21 Shaun Berne, 22 Andrew Higgins.