Luckless Sarries have lost four games by less than seven points this season, so their position in the table is a little misleading, although the visitors have only lost once in their last six encounters.

They are also the only side to take points off Abu Dhabi Harlequins – a 23-23 draw earned at Zayed Sports City in October.

Former Doha man Winston Cowie is counting on the fact that all the pressure in the capital will be on his old side.

“I think in the first half of the season our guys put too much expectation and pressure on themselves and we had a lot of unforced errors – which in tight games cost us,” said the New Zealander.

“We lost four games by seven points or less. The break was good for us. We have refocussed, the guys have trained hard so we are ready to go.

“Doha are a strong side and we are expecting another tight, physical match. The expectation this week is all on Doha. Our guys are pumped and ready to climb into it. It should be a cracker.”

Opposite number Alex Natera is not reading too much into Sarries’ position in the standings.

“I’m not looking forward to this one to be honest,” said Natera.
“We consider Saracens to be a very good side and we think they’ll shock a few sides in the second half of the draw. They had a great away win earlier against Bahrain and they have only dropped games by a few points.

“We are expecting a big test from them this week and I have been onto my boys to not get complacent.

“We are traveling with a strong team and we have had some boys returning from injury to start to give us some real depth in the squad.

“It’s a great sign when I have to leave players out of the match day 22 who would have been staters for me a couple months ago.

“Competition for places is heating up but what’s best is everyone just really wants to play for the club.”