AFTER seeing his Newcastle Falcons side slip to tenth place in the Guinness Premiership, Director of Rugby John Fletcher is expecting things to get harder before they become any easier.

The Falcons visit third-placed Saracens on Sunday, and Fletcher said: "I would say they are the best team we have come up against in 2007.

"They have a lot of fine players in key positions and under Alan Gaffney they are playing a style of rugby that suits them very well. Their form is good and they will be a match for any team. They have the ability to hit you in a number of different areas, so it will be a tough test for us."

The Falcons have made just two changes, bringing in James Grindal for Lee Dickson at scrum half, while Brent Wilson replaces Geoff Parling at blind side.

Parling defied illness to play against leaders Gloucester on Sunday and drops down to the bench.

After having to be content with a losing bonus point against Gloucester, Fletcher said: "This is undoubtedly the toughest club league in the world. We know we need some wins and obviously every day our preparation is geared towards that goal.

"Large parts of our game are in good order, but all that does in this league is give you a chance to win a match.

"Against good sides you are then talking very small margins - a pass here, a tackle or a decision there - and that's where games against Premiership quality opposition are won and lost.

"Against Gloucester there was an off-the-ball tackle and a forward pass for their first try, and we had a possible score ruled out for a borderline forward pass.

"In addition to that we obviously made decisions ourselves which contributed to the result, forcing the odd pass now and again, so that's where the focus has been."

As 2007 draws to a close, Fletcher added: "We understand where we are in terms of our development as a club, and everyone is buying into it.

"I had a long chat with Dean Ryan after the game last weekend, and we talked at length about development and taking clubs on to the next stage of their evolution, as he has done so well with Gloucester.

"I don't think we're that far away from turning good performances into consistently winning performances. A big part of it is confidence.

"I'm very focused. I know where we are, I know where we want to go.

"I also know how we are going to develop the team, who we want to recruit and I'm excited about what can happen"

Newcastle Falcons: Mathew Tait, Tom May, Jamie Noon (captain), Toby Flood, John Rudd, Jonny Wilkinson, James Grindal, Jon Golding, Andy Long, Carl Hayman, Andy Perry, Mark Sorenson, Brent Wilson, Ben Woods, Russell Winter