Saracens forwards coach Alex Sanderson insists there will be no love lost between the Men in Black and Northampton Saints in the Premiership semi-final, revealing Saints players think Sarries are fed off “silver spoons”.

Saracens go into the match as favourites, having finished top of the Premiership table and 12 points ahead of their opponents, earning themselves the right to play the semi-final at their home ground at Allianz Park.

There is however a history of animosity between the two teams.

Northampton were upset three years ago after they felt Saracens had deliberately left the changing room door open after victory so the Saints players could hear the Sarries players singing full blast.

There was also the unsavoury dispute concerning prop Soane Tonga’uiha who agreed to join Saracens before deciding to stay at Saints and sign a new contract.

“You do feel the extra niggle,” Sanderson said. “It’s got better because there used to be a bit of banter at half-time and arguments and shouting at each other between the coaches as well as the players.

“But certainly on the field there’s no love lost there – I know what their players have said to our players in England camps and it’s along the lines that they feel we’re extra privileged and we have everything we want and we’re fed off silver spoons.

“That’s not the case – we work unbelievably hard for every one of our performances but there’s still a perception out there and that’s a motivating factor for them.”

After beating Bath 23-14 last Saturday, Saracens finished top of the Premiership pile for the first time in their history, having long grown used to being the underdogs on the big occasions.

However two victories over Saints already this season, and the league standings, means it is Northampton who are the less fancied team this weekend and Sanderson says that will almost certainly spur Sarries’ opponents on.

“We were underdogs for a few years and it’s a massive motivational factor in terms of your players,” Sanderson said.

“They don’t like us anyway we know that and we’ve scorned them this season already so they’ll be desperate to put one over on us.

“Narrowly losing to us by a ball bounce or a crossbar means they know they are in arm’s reach of beating us on the day so we’re fully aware of the task at hand and what we need to do.”

In their last encounter in December, Saracens won 17-16 after Northampton’s Stephen Myler missed a last-minute penalty which came back off the bar.

Such fine margins, Sanderson says, could again be the deciding factor.

“For me in these games one scrum or one penalty can make a difference like it was when we played them at the MK Stadium when the ball bounced off the crossbar and, thankfully for us, bounced the wrong way for Northampton otherwise they would have won the game,” he said.

“It can come down to the bounce of a ball or the gust of a wind.”

Two years ago Saracens finished the campaign fourth in the table and went on to win the Premiership trophy in the play-offs.

This season the situation has been turned on its head and it is the Men in Black who must repeat their consistency over 22 games in two one-off matches.

Sanderson said: “I think when we finished we all would have liked to say, ‘that’s it now, we get a cup for finishing top of the pile’, but then we have to remember two years ago we didn't finish top and we and won it.

“I think it promotes a really exciting end to the season and it promotes the team that’s in form – obviously finishing top puts you in a better position to play the home semi and now we’ve got Allianz Park it gives us an advantage.

“But in the past the play-off system has worked out well for us so you have to live by the sword and die by the sword in that respect.”

Saracens though, are in a different place now to two years ago and Sanderson says the expectation levels are completely different.

“I think we were overwhelmed to finish in the play-offs two years ago and it was all something new and a new journey for us,” he said.

“We were enthused by the prospect of getting to the semis and winning the final, whereas this year it was an expectation that if we didn’t finish first it would be a disappointment.

“We expected to finish top, we wanted to finish top and that’s where we feel we should be. Now it’s about the final push.”