CENCUS JOHNSTON plans to "get in the faces" of his former Biarritz team-mates when Saracens take on the French superpower at their Parc des Sports Aquiléra citadel this afternoon.

The trundling Samoan prop won a place in the hearts of their fans after helping the Top 14 outfit retain the French Championship in the 2005/06 campaign while playing a crucial part in helping them finish as Heineken Cup runners-up the same season.

However, the only thing on the 25-year-old's mind at present is to help the Men in Black stay on course to reach the knock-out stages of the Heineken Cup for the first time and if that means heaping misery on his under pressure former employers, then so be it.

Biarritz got their new season underway last month but have yet to fire. An opening 15-15 draw with Albi was followed by a 12-7 triumph at Brive while last weekend's unconvincing 19-11 Heineken win over Italian minnows Viadana means in-form Sarries could catch Patrice Lagisquet's side off guard.

But Johnston, who is indebted to Biarritz for helping launch his professional career, insists the visitors must be wary of a backlash as the likes of instrumental Dimitri Yachvili and his cohorts will "win at all costs".

"Biarritz is where I started my career in Europe and they introduced me to the game here," said Johnston, who scored three tries for Sarries in 14 appearances last season. "Originally I never looked at coming to England or France as young as I did and Biarritz opened up the door for me. It is a special place for me, the people are very special and so are a few of their players."

Despite their undoubted talent, Biarritz do not appear to be the flair side they once were. But whatever their game plan or style one thing is certain - they did not qualify for the knock-out stages for the past five seasons by being lucky.

Twice semi-finalists and coming runners up in that period, Biarritz are no mugs and certainly do not like being made of on home soil. Indeed, from those five seasons they boast a record of 35 wins, a draw and 17 defeats, just one of those losses arriving at the Parc des Sports Aquiléra with Bath the grateful recipients in 2001.

"Looking at a couple of videos of them (Biarritz) in the past few days their systems are pretty much the same," added Johnston. "Biarritz are always going to be a strong side but we have to go out there and be in their faces all day and try not to give them anything.

"When I was there they looked at playing the conservative game in big matches and what they tend to focus on is just winning the game, even if it takes 80 minutes of mauling and holding the ball. They will do whatever to win. That's just the way they play and we've got to combat that and try and be up front with them and get the ball back."

Some light-hearted sledging has already commenced between Johnston and some of his former team-mates but the twinkle-toed tight-head is not rising to the bait.

"Their winger Jean-Baptiste Gobelet was one of my best friends there and he has told me "look forward to November as it's when you end your career". I said okay, we'll see, we'll see. It's a bit of a challenge laid upon me."

He will also come face to face with his old front row friend, Romanian prop Petru Vladimir Bãlan. "I had a few laughs with Vlad when I was there as we were pretty close," commented Johnston. "I'm looking forward to the challenge ahead of me and I'm sure they will be looking to get one over on me, being an ex player. I'm not expecting any special treatment."

Saturday is also a special day for Kris Chesney. The 33-year-old second row will make his 300th appearance for the Men in Black since joining from Barking in 1995.

Now in his 12th season at Sarries, Chesney squirms in embarrassment whenever the milestone is mentioned although he admits it would be "special" to mark it with a victory.

"My main priority is to win the game against Biarritz, than would mean more to me than anything else," he said. "We're building on what we did last year. We have a hell of a lot of quality here - there are no out and out superstars and we're all putting in the hard work.

"We're targeting the EDF, Europe and the league. We've laid down the foundations and now it's up to us to finish it."