Director of rugby Mark McCall revealed Saracens winger Chris Ashton has taken recent criticism to heart but believes the England speed demon was back to his best against Wasps on Saturday.

Ashton scored the decisive try in the second half which saw Saracens take the lead in the match having been 13 points behind in the first half.

McCall praised Ashton's performance and believes the winger showed some of the form that saw many once talk about him as one of the most promising players in the world.

"It wasn't just the try, it's how he played," McCall said.

"I thought he was absolutely brilliant - it was the Chris Ashton everyone was talking about two years ago - popping up all over the place, getting his hands on the ball, making the breaks.

"But he also defended really well today, he was hungry for work, he was energetic." 

It was the first time the former Wigan man had crossed the line for Sarries since January as a string of lacklustre performances for club and country have seen Ashton come under fire of late.

The Sarries boss admits some of the negative publicity has affected Ashton's confidence but insists the club have always backed the 26-year-old.

"He's a sensitive soul and anybody in the world who's sensitive is going to be affected a little bit by some of the criticism he received.

"However when he comes back to Saracens Chris knows he's coming back to a place where we don't judge him in that way.

"We back him and we believe he's a great player - that's why we brought him to the club - we leave him be, we let him play and let him do what he does best.

"At our club we try and concentrate on what the players are good at, not what they're not good at and Chris is good at quite a few things."