JONATHAN Thomas has swatted away suggestions that his side have the upper hand in their Boxing Day clash with Saracens on Sunday.

The London club have been isolating since December 13 after a Covid-19 outbreak caused their European Challenge Cup group game with Section Paloise to be cancelled last weekend.

A statement at the time confirmed all players would be self-isolating until Christmas Eve, when they will train ahead of the visit of Worcester just 48 hours later.

Despite not training for ten days, Thomas is expecting Saracens to be as tough as ever.

"Saracens are a team that know each other inside out, they have played big finals rugby over the years," he said.

"There are a lot of combinations there that know each other really well. Yes it will be a hindrance for them but they will still be able to train, stay fit and healthy and doing gym stuff.

"But you know what they stand for, they are direct and pragmatic, we know they won't deviate from that and of all the teams that can probably endure a ten day isolation period, it's probably them more than anyone else.

"They are a team that tend to do well in adversity so we are not getting carried away or doing cartwheels because they haven't trained. They will be raring to go for this one."

Despite it all, Worcester should be confident themselves of causing an upset at the StoneX Stadium on Sunday.

Warriors have lost just one of their last four league matches and will be looking to make it back-to-back wins for the first time this season.

Thomas praised his players for how they have adapted in a difficult period and reports that the mood in camp is good ahead of what is a huge test.

"Adaptability has been the buzzword in the last 18 months, but I must praise our players," he added

"It's not just been Covid, it's been the Newcastle travel and the postponement there, there has been a lot of challenges thrown at the group but they've taken it in their stride every time.

"We trained well this week so far and we have another good few sessions planned so spirits are good.

"It is a challenge, we have had to bring up restrictions again but I guess it's also the festive season and that tends to bring the best out of people."