After seven straight defeats in all competitions, Saracens’ Mark McCall if confident his side are on the up as they look to end their year on a high.

Owen Farrell starred as Sarries brought their wretched run to an end with a Christmas Eve victory over Leicester Tigers.

But McCall thinks their resurgence started even before that, with the 24-21 defeat to ASM Clermont Auvergne in France the previous weekend.

In stark contrast to their 46-14 mauling at the hands of the French side the week before, Saracens put in a heartening display on the continent before recording their first win in eight at Welford Road before Christmas.

And with Worcester Warriors next in their sights, McCall is keen to keep building momentum.

“There have been two decent performances the last couple of weekends, the Leicester performance was a little bit improved on the Clermont performance which is what we were after; I think trying to improve week-on-week is now the objective,” he said.

“We said after the first Clermont game at Allianz Park that we would judge our response over a six-week period, we’re only two weeks into that response but are doing okay on and off the field; we need to keep building though over the rest of this period.”

Worcester come into the game with three wins from four Premiership matches and recorded a vital victory over fellow strugglers London Irish last time out.

Despite the two sides’ contrasting form, Saracens still sit second in the table with Warriors second from bottom, but McCall knows he has to be wary of Worcester.

“Worcester are on a very rich vein of form at the moment,” he said. “They’re very settled and are playing good rugby; they have had some really good wins, not just against London Irish last weekend but beating Northampton Saints and Leicester Tigers, they’re an improving team.”